Say It If It's Worth Saving Me
by Death101- Fox Version
Summary: The moment the portal opened, I knew there was going to be trouble. What I didn't know was there to be a war over a tiny demon and someone taking my place in Spirit World. I hope that Yusuke and the team figure out what's going on before it's too late. Rated 14A
1. The Start Of It All

**A/N: Ok. This is Hunted redone with a new title (taken from Save me by Nickelback (which I don't own). Story takes place after the end of the anime series and after the Demon World Tournament in the manga. Still need a beta reader so if you wanna, please let me know. Also please warn me when I'm going all cliché on you guys.**

**Also Kazuma is Kuwabara.**

* * *

**Say It If It's Worth Saving Me  
****Chapter One  
****A Written Explanation**

With a sigh the demon looked down at the piece of paper that lay on her lap. She twirled a small pen in her hand as she tried to figure out how best to describe her situation. After a moment of staring at the piece of paper, the demon sighed in annoyance. She was about to give up when she heard the sound of the door to the prison being opened. For a moment, the demon was still and listening hard for the sounds of footsteps. They came soon enough, and the demon was surprised to hear them stop just outside her cell's door. She looked up to see a familiar face staring back. "Botan-chan," the demon whispered.

The ferry girl put a finger to her lips and whispered, "I can't stay long."

The demon nodded in understanding. "How is everyone?"

Botan sighed. "Confused, the boys most of all."

"I know."

"Do you have any letters for us?"

The demon didn't answer but instead reached under her pillow and handed Botan two envelopes. "Your's, Keiko-chan's, Genkai-sama's, and Yukina-chan's letters are in the green envelope. The boys are in the blue."

The ferry girl nodded. Her usual happy face was sad. She gripped the demon's hand tightly as she muttered, "Don't worry. If Koenma doesn't get you out of here soon, I'll send the boys to break you out."

The demon nodded but also sighed. "Let's just wait a few more weeks. Then you can decide if you want the guys to break me out."

Botan was about to tell the demon that in a few weeks they would still want her back home, but before she could a guard appeared. With a quick goodbye, the ferry girl started walking away.

The demon watched her go and then turned back to the piece of paper that she had been trying to write on. With a sigh, she put her pen back to the paper only to place it back down. The words she needed to explain her situation were beyond her grasp. Slowly she tried to figure out how to write without using the words she didn't know how to spell. When she thought of none, she gave up for the night and started to reread it once more. Part way through reading, the demon realized she didn't like what she had written and scratched out the words. Slowly she started writing again until sleep visited her.

* * *

_White page, white page  
__Dotted with blood_

* * *

When Botan returned to Earth, she found everyone at Genkai's. Yusuke was beating up Kuwabara for some reason while Kurama and Genkai merely watched. Keiko and Yukina were talking in the background as the ice demon made dinner. With a half-hearted hello, Botan entered the room and without another word she handed out the letters. Since Hiei wasn't present, the ferry girl gave it to Kurama who would probably see the fire demon first. For a moment, everyone was silent as they read their letters.

Kurama was the first to finish. When he finished, he got up from his seat and went outside. Moments after he had left, he heard Yusuke yell from the room he had just left.

"This is so stupid!" he shouted. "Does she actually want to stay there!?"

Kurama knew that no one would answer him. As he walked throughout Genkai's temple, he puzzled over Yusuke's question.

Did she really want to stay there? And if she did, why?

The demon in a human body sighed as he followed the trail. After many moments, Kurama came to a stop and sat down. As he looked around, his memories returned to the events that had happened in the past month.

Had he missed something? Some vital clue that she had left him? Did he misunderstand? Why did she want to remain in that Hell?

Questions chased themselves round and round in his mind. Finally, he gave up asking questions and started looking for answers. He pulled out a small book from his pocket and started rereading the words written there. The words written by his own hand as the events of the previous months progressed.

* * *

_White page, white page  
__Pain isn't enough_

* * *

The Diary of a Mutt  
Hunted

A year ago, I would have never thought that I would be in a demon prison, but I am. I also never thought that I would kill another living being, let alone a human, but I have. Now I'm writing down the events that have caused my situation so that, in the likely event, if I lose my sanity and forget, someone will know my side of the story.

My name and age are of no importance but my lineage is. I'm a mixed blooded demon who was the result of a drunken night. Abandoned at birth because of my wings, I learned to look after myself. I can remember my childhood perfectly until I turned thirteen. That's when things got fuzzy, and I still don't remember what I was doing between when I turned thirteen and when I turned seventeen. My memories of what happened after I turned seventeen are perfectly clear though. But that's not important. What is important, is how I encountered a human and the Spirit Detectives.

A while ago, I woke up to the sound of my broken alarm clock like any morning. The only difference was that I had had a dream. In the dream I was running down a street from two people whom I didn't recognize. I was panting heavily, and my wings were bleeding. For some reason I kept thinking that I had to get away even though I didn't want to leave.

The next second, I was on the roof of a building, and one of the people was trying to calm me down by talking to me as he stepped closer. I was just within his reach when the other person jumped up and slashed my wings with his sword. The slash caused me to fall backwards and off the roof. Just before I woke up, I heard the person, who was trying to calm me, shout out a name. Tsukino. This confused me because my name wasn't Tsukino.

I was still thinking about the dream as I flew to work while I tried to eat a pitiful breakfast of a slice of meat. When I got to work, I changed into my horrid work uniform that resembled a French maid outfit and spent the rest of the day serving drinks to drunken demons and slapping wandering hands. By the end of the day I was about ready to kill a demon if he came within three feet of me with a stupid smirk on his face. My cat ears were on high alert for the sound of footsteps coming in my direction, and I was constantly moving my wings so that whatever skin my uniform showed off was covered.

As if perverts weren't enough, some demons got into a brawl, and after I broke it up, my boss gave me my pay check and fired me. I can't say I was surprised though. My boss was one of the demons who believed mutts should be killed. It was a miracle he had even hired me in the first place.

I left the bar and started making my way home only to run into some more trouble. In retrorespect, if I had flown home like I did every day, I would have avoided the trouble. But for some reason, that day I wanted to walk home. As I walked down the street, I was aware of someone following me. Once or twice I looked over my shoulder but saw nothing. Finally, I decided it had to be that one demon who was always stalking me. The annoying rat faced lizard demon had spotted me at the bar months ago was had been stalking me since.

I started walking a bit faster, and soon I was running down the street like the devil was on my heels. As I ran, I looked over my shoulder to see a dog demon running after me. I ran into an alley just to be sure it was me he was chasing, and to my horror, the demon followed. With my breaths coming out in pants, I considered taking flight, but the alley was too narrow for me to take off. I kept running and slowly realized that the demon always kept just a few steps behind me even though he could easily overtake me. It was almost as if he was herding me towards something.

I kept ducking in and out of alleys until I was almost exhausted. The only reason I kept running was because of the stories I had heard. Just like all the other demons, I had heard stories about demons being captured, used for pleasure, and then killed. And the only reason I kept running into the alleys was because there were more opportunities to lose the creep, and because it was the fastest way back to my home.

I had just exited another alley and was planning to run on the main road when an arm shot out of another alley and grabbed me. Too surprised and frightened to even make a sound, I disappeared into the alley. I managed to collect my thoughts quickly and kicked the demon, who had grabbed me, on the shin. He let go at once, and I ran away as fast as I could.

I heard the demon shout at me as I ran, and suddenly it wasn't just one demon chasing me. There were six! Running as fast as I could, I tried to make it home. Before I got there, I saw that the gang had split up, and three of their number was waiting for me at the end of the street. I had no idea why they were so persistent, but I decided I didn't want to know why.

I looked around for another way out when a sudden flash of light caught my eyes. Ignoring my gut that told me to beware, I ran into the alley where the light had come from. To my horror, I realized too late that the alley was a dead end.

Muttering a plead for safety to anything that could hear me, I turned around hoping that the demons hadn't entered the alley. I hadn't even turned around when I heard the demons enter the alley. Slowly, I turned to face them, and in mid turn my hair ribbon was cut, and my long hair fell to just pass my shoulders. Frightened beyond mortal comprehension, I finished the turn to see my doom and end seconds away from me.

I still have nightmares about what happened next. As the demons advanced towards me, I pressed myself against the wall. When I noticed that they had brought weapons with them, I pleaded again to all deities to help me.

When the demons were three feet from me, they drew their weapons. As the colour disappeared from my face, I realized that the demons were just going to kill me. Panic made me look around for an exit, but I knew that I wouldn't find one in time.

Just as the demons threw their weapons at me, I no longer felt the wall behind me, and I fell backwards. I wrapped my wings around me to protect me from both the weapons and the fall. When I opened them, I found myself in front of some sort of portal, but I didn't have much time to think about it. The demons who were going to attack me in the alley were coming through the portal right after me.

Ignoring the pain in my lungs, I started to run again. I managed to get a fair distance away and managed to lose all the demons but one. The usual lizard stalker, not that that was any comfort. For a moment, I felt confident that I was going to be able to find someplace to hide. My hopes were slaughtered when I suddenly felt the lizard grab my right wing with his claws. Blood quickly started flowing from the wound, and the demon forced me to turn around. He threw me against the wall, and his mouth was dangerously close to mine.

I was going to kick him when the demon suddenly pulled back as if blinded. For a moment, I noticed that the alley was a bit brighter but didn't think about it as I started to run again. After I was certain that no one was following me, I slowed down and looked around. The sights that greeted me were vastly different from what I was used to. Back home, everything was dirty, chaotic, dangerous, and old. Where I found myself was dirty as well since it was a back alley, but it didn't seem very dangerous or chaotic, and it definitely wasn't old.

I studied my surroundings for a few moments before I realized that I was in Human World. At once panic gripped me. I had heard all about Human World from my job at the bar. Demons were always talking about it and the Spirit Detectives. The tales I had heard weren't pretty. All of the stories ended in the death of the demon and with the lesson, if you ever entered Human World to hide yourself ASAP or else the Spirit Detectives would kill you.

While I looked around for a place to hide my mind kept stubbornly thinking about what could happen if the Spirit Detectives caught me. Every scenario was worse than the last, and for some reason I couldn't stop thinking about them. I felt worse and worse as I realized that there was a very slim chance of me ever getting home alive.

I had heard all about the Spirit Detectives from the demons at the bar and from the radio/TV commentaries of both tournaments. I even saw Urameshi Yusuke fight Chu in the Dark Tournament. Even though he wasn't all that strong back then, he would have still been able to kill me easily. I shivered at the thought of how strong all detectives would be now several years after the tournament.

After walking for a while longer, I decided that I needed a disguise so that I would be harder to find in a human crowd. At once, my eyes caught sight of a very old hat and even older coat in a dumper. I smiled a bit as I put them on. My wings and ears were covered perfectly. I looked around again, this time for a place to hide. When I saw none, I started walking again.

Almost a second later, I saw someone enter the alley I was in. Someone with red hair. My demonic heart almost stopped as I realized that the person was one of Urameshi's team mates from the Dark Tournament with a haircut (it only reached his neck instead of his mid-back). I wasn't sure if this man was the one who used the Spirit Sword or the Rose Whip, but I wasn't going to wait around to find out.

Without waiting another second, I started walking into another alley. My face paled when I realized that the man was following me. I forced myself to keep walking at the same speed in an attempt to make the man think he was mistaken. After a few moments, the man's footsteps became doubtful. For a second, I thought I had managed to trick him and joy filled my being. But suddenly his footsteps became confident again.

Finally, I couldn't take it any longer. I started increasing my speed. Soon I was running, and the man matched my pace easily. I longed to take to the air, but it was too risky since I would be easier to see. My breaths were coming out as pants within seconds, and I was slowing, but the Spirit Detective made no move to overtake me.

When my lungs felt ready to burst, I stopped and faced the man. "What the hell do you want?" I demanded. To my horror, my voice betrayed my feelings by sounding just as weak, breathless, and scared as I was.

The man didn't answer for a moment, but when he did, he didn't answer my question. Instead, he said, "What's your name?"

I looked at him completely confused. My first thought was that maybe he needed to know it for the paperwork he was going to fill out. (I had heard that Spirit World loves paperwork more than anything else.) My second thought was that he just wanted to know my name before he killed me. In a moment of light-headedness from lack of oxygen, I gave him a fake name. "Tsukino."

He nodded and seemed to study me. "_He's trying to figure out the best way to kill me,_" I thought as I became more and more afraid. For a second, I thought of running again, but I was too tired, and the man could easily capture me. With no other choice, I decided to wait and see what would happen.

* * *

_White page, white page  
__Death is on its way_

* * *

First Case After Demon World Tournament  
Day One

After seven years without a case, we have a new mission. As I walk around looking for signs of a demon, I puzzle over what Koenma has told Yusuke, Kazuma, Hiei, and me. What we were told was little. The most we know, at this time, is that a portal has opened and a demon has come through it. Yusuke and Kazuma are excited about being on another mission after so long. Hiei, on the other hand, is just trying to get out of patrol duty. I've come along just to make sure that there is no trouble and for old times sake.

We walk in a group for a few moments before Yusuke suggests that we split up. We do so, and I continue to wonder why Koenma has told us so little and why he is making such a big deal about a demon crossing into Human World.

It doesn't make any sense. The barrier between Demon World and Human World has been down for four years, and all the demons know not to make trouble. Then again, it **has** been four years. Many of the rougher demons must be getting bored with nothing to do since they cannot attack humans any longer. But Koenma would have told us if the demon who slipped through was a troublemaker, so why is this demon so important?

I pull myself from my thoughts as I notice a figure in a large brown and holey coat with a bright red baseball cap. The figure notices me as well and pauses for a moment, before turning into an alley. Following my instincts, I follow it.

***

The person never seems to walk any faster, and now I'm beginning to doubt myself. Suddenly I sense demonic energy coming from the person in front of me. My doubts disappear, and I keep following.

***

The demon is starting to speed up so I walk faster, but just so that I'm a few steps behind it. It is best to let the demon tire itself out before approaching it. Though Koenma didn't tell us, I can tell that this demon isn't a fighter. But all demons are dangerous if frightened. Once it tires, I will confront it.

***

Finally, the demon has turned to confront me, and I realize she's a girl who appears about the age of my body, maybe two years my senior. The quarter moon throws just enough light so that I can see her black hair and brown eyes. For a moment, I'm reminded of Maya. Though why, I cannot say. The demon looks at me fearfully, and her voice trembles as she demands to know what I want. I avoid the question and ask her what her name is instead.

She pauses before saying, "Tsukino."

I nod at her answer and study her. As I had thought before, this demon is no fighter. She appears no older than my body, but demons age quite differently from humans. For all I know, she could be over a hundred years old. Under the coat I see a bulge so I assume she has wings. I also suppose that her ears are not like a humans or else she wouldn't be wearing the cap. As I take a closer look at her disguise, I almost smile. If she had covered her aura, I would have never thought she was a demon.

"It would be much easier to disguise yourself if you learned how to hide your energy," I tell her.

She just glares at me. "It doesn't really matter, does it? It's not like I'm going to have time to learn how."

I looked her, confused. "Why not?"

"You're a Spirit Detective," she tells me as if that explains everything.

I frown. Did she think that I was going to kill her? Before I can say anything Yusuke appears at one of the entrances to the alley.

The girl also notices and quickly turns to leave. Kazuma appears at other entrance, and she hesitates. Then Hiei appears at the last entrance with his sword unsheathed.

Things are not going as I had hoped. The girl was almost calm enough so that I could explain the situation, but now she's terrified. She takes a step back, but before she could take another, I grab her arm. To Hiei's amusement and my advantage, she trips and falls onto her stomach. I quickly grab her arms and keep her there while the others come closer. She is struggling to free herself but seems to be getting weaker.

Her coat is quite worn and with her struggling, it has ripped, revealing her red bat wings and red cat tail. Her cap has also come off and revealed red cat ears.

Hiei is the first to comment. "We should tie up her wings so that she can't fly away."

It is almost as if Hiei's comment reminded her of her wings. Not a second after Hiei spoke, she stretched her wings and pushed me off. Now she is running down the alleys, and we are giving chase. She is tiring quickly as if she has already run quite a distance.

***

We manage to surround her, and she stares at us in fear. No doubt she has heard about the Dark Tournament and the Demon World Tournament. She has to know what we are capable of.

Kazuma understands the situation and aids me in trying to calm the demon down, but she doesn't listen. She takes a step back and steps onto a manhole. I notice her eyes dart down to it.

She wouldn't, would she?

I cover my eyes as the alley is suddenly filled with a bright white light. The moment the light disappears, I remove my arm and look around. Yusuke is the first to speak.

"She actually went into the sewers?!"

I nod and walk over to the open manhole. "Yes. Yusuke, you and Kazuma stay above ground and track her that way. Hiei and I will take the Sewers." I start to lower myself into the sewers below. If we are lucky, the demon will be easy to find.

* * *

_White page, white page  
__I have nothing left to say._

* * *

I stopped to catch my breath as I looked around the sewers. With a sigh, I clutched my head as thoughts of how I was doomed crossed my mind. I wasn't sure why the Spirit Detectives hadn't killed me right away, but I was sure that they were going to kill me the next time they saw me. At that moment, I wanted nothing more than to curl up into a ball and just wait for the end, but I forced myself to keep walking. My demon pride refused to be killed by a Spirit Detective.

After walking for only a few minutes, a loud noise shattered the silence in the sewers. I looked up and saw nothing but decided it would be safer to turn around. Just when I started to walk in the other direction, someone dropped from the ceiling in front of me. I saw his black hair and brown eyes, and at once I realized that in front of me was Urameshi Yusuke. Acting quickly, I jumped back and started to make a run for it. Urameshi gave chase and was quickly joined by the other detectives. I tried to lose them in the maze of the sewers, but they somehow managed to remain just one turn behind me.

Then, just when I ran by a corridor, a hand shot out from it and grabbed me. I didn't even have time to make a sound before a hand clapped itself over my mouth. Since I was too tired to fight, I was dragged deeper into the maze. "_I'm going to die here,_" I thought as tears started to run down my face. Even though I had a horrible life, I didn't want it to end so quickly. I wasn't even thirty, for goodness' sake!

My thoughts were cut off as my capturer and I stopped at a dead end. For a moment, I wondered if we were lost when the dead end erupted in light. I quickly closed my eyes and waited for them to adjust. Once they had, I realized a human was holding me. My nose scrunched, and my pride decided that it would rather die by the hands of Spirit Detective than by that of a normal human.

I was just about to try to think up an escape plan when three demonic looking humans walked into the dead end. I realized that I must have trespassed into a gang's territory, though why they were in a sewer was beyond me. Trying to keep my cool, I glared at the human who was the leader. I also noticed that the scent of cigarette smoke entered the dead end along with the man and his thugs. My nose scrunched some more as I tried not to gag.

The leader was tall with cruel eyes, and his hair was starting to go gray. As he studied me, he smirked; his cruel eyes sparkling. He reached out and grabbed my jaw with one hand. I glared at him and bared my fangs at him like a common dog. I didn't care how doglike I was acting; I just wanted to get away from everything. When I started growling, the leader merely slapped me like the dog I was acting like. His smirk widened at my pain and then he spoke.

"Behave if you want to live, mutt."

"If the only reason I'm living is to amuse some higher entity, I'd rather die!" I shouted at him.

The leader ignored me. "Stato-san," he spoke to the thug holding me. "How much do you think we'll get for her?"

"At least a hundred thousand yen, Oshiro-sama," Stato replied.

Oshiro smiled and turned back to me, an evil grin on his face. "You're going to make me a lot of money."

It took all I had not to spit on his face. Instead I closed my eyes and turned my disgust inward as I tried to summon my new power again. I tried to find the trigger that had saved me twice before. But before I could find it, Oshiro spoke again.

"Stato-san, you hold her while Mochizuki-san cuts her wings. We can't have her flying off now, can we?"

The two thugs replied, and I heard a knife being unsheathed. Suddenly, I felt power rush through me, and all the humans cried out in terror and pain as something blinded them. I pushed Stato away from me and ran from the dead end. My light disappeared after a few seconds, and the thugs quickly tried to give chase.

To my delight, they were much easier to lose than the detectives were, and within minutes I was safe for the moment. Slowly, I stopped running and tried to recover some energy. I looked around and noticed an orange glow coming from one of the tunnels. Once again I ignored my gut that told me to beware and walked over.

I creeped over to the tunnel with the orange glow and noticed that it was coming from a sword of energy. My eyes widened when I saw the holder of the sword, and I quickly pulled back and tried to get my heartbeat to calm. It was the orange haired detective with brown eyes. At once, I started to feel panic rise in me again, but I forced it down.

Still creeping, I started to turn into another tunnel only to see Urameshi there with a ball of blue light in his hand. Biting back a curse, I tried to turn into the only other tunnel. To my growing terror, the short, black haired, red eyed demon was there. I backed away from the entrances of the tunnels and tried to figure a way out of the mess I found myself in. Looking around, I noticed a ladder that led back up to the streets. With the lights moving closer, I decided to take my chances above ground.

After quickly and silently climbing the ladder, I ran along the streets. Air ran over my wings, and I resisted the urge to open them and fly. The detectives knew the city much better than I did, and if I took to the air it would only make it easier for them to track me. The air continued to tease me as I ran.

After a little while, I stopped running and started walking. After a bit, I stopped all together and looked around. I had nowhere to go, and I had death on my heels. If I didn't come up with a plan, I was only going to die faster.

I looked around myself to see broken down buildings surrounded me. If I was lucky, I'd be able to find an empty building to hide in. Once more I started walking but quickly started running when Stato spotted me. He cornered me quickly, and I got a good look at him. He could have passed for a demon; he was huge with black hair and an evil smirk on his face. I had a brief flash back to one fight I had seen on the TV set, Urameshi vs. Toguro. This guy looked just like Toguro only shorter and no sunglasses.

When he had me cornered, his smirk turned into an evil grin. "Now, now, sweetheart. The boss doesn't like it when his pet runs away."

A wall of anger hit me. I was nobody's pet, least of all that bastard's.

Slowly the thug advanced towards me. "Come here, puppy."

Another wave of anger hit me, this time due to my cat demon blood.

"Screw off!" I screamed at him. "I'm part cat and bat demon! You moron! I'm not a dog! And I'm not that bastard's pet!"

The next second, I felt something scrape my left arm and cut through my left wing. Slowly, I realized Stato was holding a handgun.

The sadist grinned at my pain. "That was a warning shot. Now come on before I get angry."

"Tell your boss this," I told him as my anger continued to build. "Tell him, TO GO ROT IN HELL!"

The alley erupted in light, and I was about to run when Stato grabbed my arm.

"You're not going anywhere," he told me. "The boss is not going to be-"

The voice of the spirit detective with the spirit sword cut him off. "She's over here!"

Stato released me, and I fell to the ground. As he ran out of the alley he said, "Oshiro-sama always gets what he wants."

I was still angry so I got back up and shouted, "Like hell he does!"

A moment after I yelled at Stato, the detectives entered the alley. They all had a weapon out and ready. The short demon was looking at me in disgust, probably because of my mixed blood, while the others looked worried. They slowly advanced towards me as if worried I might run again. I didn't care though. My energy was completely spent so I prepared myself for death.

My body was screaming with wariness. I closed my eyes for a second, and I suddenly felt the world tip. The next second, I felt my knees give out from underneath me, and I fell to the ground. Before I hit it though, I felt someone catch me. In my last moment of consciousness, I felt someone lift me up and start carrying me.

* * *

_Disclaimer: I don't own YYH, but I have two volumes of manga. Also I own the little poem in between the line breaks, and I own Tsukino._

**A/N: Wow… I have three different writing styles in one chapter. Anyways, that's the redo chapter, and I have to say I like it way more than the original. The only thing I sorta don't like is the new title, but I couldn't think of anything. Any suggestions? And for those of you who can't picture Kurama with short hair, either find the episode where Hiei is thinking about his life and first meeting Kurama, or find Volume 7 of the manga with the bonus two-shot.**

**And I'm warning you right now. Updates **may** take some time for two reasons. **

**1. I feel horrible for writing this now that I know about Maya (see YYH Volume Seven, bonus chapter.) No idea why I feel so bad about it but I do.**

**And**

**2. I'm trying to figure out how to make this plot uncliched and unique. So I'll try to update when I can. (Probably soon since plot doesn't really matter yet).**

**Thanks for reading both my story and my ranting. Suggestions are welcomed. I'll try to have more story and less ranting next time. See ya later.**

**-D101**


	2. What kind of Gentleman are you?

**A/N: Just in case you didn't already know, I redid the first chapter. Nothing major but it might help you get used to the new style and might be useful later in the plot. And thanks for reviewing for the previous chapter. I hope you enjoy this chapter as much if not more.**

_Disclaimer: …MUHAHAHAHAHA! Me! Own! Yu! Yu! Hakusho! You've gotta be kidding me!_

* * *

**Say It If It's Worth Saving Me  
****Chapter Two  
****Confusion and Disapproving**

Day Eight

It has been a week since we first found Tsukino, and she still has not awakened yet. As I sit under a tree at Genkai's temple, I wait for my turn for guarding Tsukino-san. With a small sigh, I start thinking about how things have changed in the last seven years.

Kazuma is now a teacher and engaged to Yukina who is living with him. Yusuke now has a restaurant, which Keiko helps him run, and he is married to Keiko. They even have a child on the way. Hiei is patrolling the border between Demon World and Human World to make sure that no humans slip into Demon World. And I'm working with my step-father while trying to convince my mother that I'm too busy to be dating. The only reason I'm not at my apartment in Tokyo is because of our new mission and because it is summer holidays.

Everyone had been planning on staying at Genkai's over the holidays until Yusuke, Kazuma, Hiei, and I were put on the mission. Now, we are staying at Genkai's for a reason other than relaxing and catching up on what happened while school was in session.

Right now, Yusuke is making sure that Tsukino doesn't disappear on us by guarding her. While he is doing that, Kazuma is talking to Yukina and Botan about Tsukino. I try not to overhear, but it is hard not to. They seem to be discussing why Tsukino still hasn't wakened up yet.

"Hey, Kurama!"

My head shoots up from my book to see Kazuma and Botan walking over to me. Yukina must have gone back into the house. "Yes?" I ask.

"Has Tsukino-chan woken up yet?" Botan asks.

I shake my head. "Any news from Koenma?"

She also shakes her head. "Nothing. I can't even see him because he's so busy."

"What is he doing?"

"He didn't say."

We are silent for a moment before Kazuma says, "Maybe Yukina can heal her." (For some reason I'm the only one other than Botan to call Tsukino by her name. Everyone else calls her, her, the demon, etc.)

I sigh. "It's not her body that needs healing. She seems to have fallen into a coma," I explain. "Something must have happened to her besides us chasing her."

"The question is what that something was," Botan adds.

Kazuma and I nod, but before we can come up with and theories about what could have happened to Tsukino, we hear a scream. A second after the screaming stops we hear a shout of, 'Pervert'. We all look at each other before we run to the room where Yusuke is guarding Tsukino.

When I open the door, I'm prepared for the worst. The first thing I see when I enter the room is Yusuke rubbing his face which has an angry red hand print on it. Kazuma starts laughing at Yusuke's discomfort while I try to hold back mine. My laughter disappears as I notice that Tsukino is gone.

"The bitch slapped me," Yusuke tells us when he finally realizes we're in the room.

"Tell us what happened," I urge.

"I was keeping an eye on her when she started thrashing around. She was practically screaming at someone to keep away from her."

"She must have been dreaming about that night when she crossed into this world," Kazuma cuts in.

Yusuke shakes his head. "I doubt it. The way she was acting, you'd think someone was trying to rape her. She was saying stuff like, 'Get off of me.' And unless Kurama tried to rape her when he first found her, I doubt she was dreaming about us."

I glare at Yusuke for suggesting such a thing.

"So she was having a nightmare, then what?" Botan asks.

Yusuke looks angry again as he rubs his still red cheek. "I was going to wake her up when she suddenly sat up and slapped me. Then she screamed pervert and ran off."

"Why didn't you run after her?" I ask.

Yusuke glares at me. "I would have but she used that stupid light again. I don't even know which way she went."

I sigh. This isn't going to be easy. Genkai's temple is huge and has many places to hide. "We'll have to split up. She can't have gotten far."

"There is no need for that," Genkai says as she walks into the room.

We all turn to face her. "Why do you say that?" I ask.

Just a second after I asked my question, Tsukino walks into the room. Her wings are held close to her body, her cat ears are back, and she is looking down at the ground. It is obvious that she is uncomfortable.

Genkai doesn't seem to notice as she turns to Botan and says, "Botan, Yukina needs some help with lunch."

The ferry girl nods and stops Kazuma from volunteering to help instead. "Right away, Genkai," Botan replies as she follows Yusuke's master out of the room.

After Genkai and Botan leave, the room is silent. Yusuke is glaring at the girl, while Kazuma and I are trying to figure out what to do next. Finally, I speak.

"Would you like to sit down?"

Tsukino sits down but does not look up. We are all silent again until she speaks.

"I'm sorry for slapping and calling you a pervert, Uramshi-san."

Yusuke does nothing but say, 'whatever'. The room is silent again. It is very difficult to complete a mission when you don't even know what you are supposed to be doing. During the week Tsukino was unconscious, Koenma had only contacted us once to tell us to protect Tsukino.

Once or twice, Yusuke, Kazuma, or I start to speak but then fall silent when we can't figure out what we were going to say. Tsukino doesn't even try to speak so we sit in silence. Luckily, we are all saved from the silence by the arrival of Hiei. As soon as he enters the room, he and Kazuma find something to fight about. This time it is Yukina.

Kazuma now knows that Hiei is Yukina's brother, and he has joined me in trying to get Hiei to tell Yukina. It's obvious that Yukina knows the truth as well, but Kazuma and I feel that Hiei should still tell her.

For a moment, Yusuke and I watch the fight until Kazuma looks like he is going to break something. At that moment, I ask Hiei why he is here. He does not answer right away. Instead, he looks in the direction of Tsukino who looks back down again. At once, I realize that Hiei has news from Koenma. "Tsukino-san, we are going outside for a moment. Stay here," I tell her.

She nods, and we leave the room. Once Hiei feels we are out of earshot, he speaks.

"Koenma has a message for us."

"What does pacifier breath want now?" Yusuke grumbled.

"Apparently, Spirit World is missing some data. Koenma wants to see what we can learn from that girl."

"What sort of data is he missing?" I ask. For some reason, I can't help but feel something is off.

Hiei shrugs. "The ogre didn't say."

"The ogre?" I repeat.

"You mean, you didn't even see the toddler?" Yusuke asks.

Hiei nods and Kazuma groans.

"How are we supposed to do our jobs when he doesn't even tell us what to do?" Kazuma asks.

I silently agree with him and say, "In any case we have to gain her to trust us if we are going to learn anything from her."

"That's going to be tough," Yusuke points out. "She has probably heard all about us from the Tournaments."

"And heard the rumours that must be going around Demon World," I add.

"Maybe one of us should talk to her one on one," Kazuma suggests.

"For once the fool has a good idea," Hiei mutters.

"Hiei," I say in a warning voice.

"So who is going to talk to her then?" Yusuke asks.

"She might feel more comfortable speaking to someone who can relate to her," I point out.

"And who would that be?"

I look over at Hiei. Slowly, the other detectives do as well.

"You can't be serious. How can the shrimp relate to her?" Kazuma demands to know.

Hiei glares at Kazuma and me. "Careful, your brain might explode from stress," he says to Kazuma.

"I actually meant Yukina," I say.

"Why don't you do it, Fox?" Hiei asks.

I start to reply, but Yusuke cuts me off.

"That's not a bad idea. You've already talked to her, haven't you?"

"Yes but-"

"And you can charm women, right?" Kazuma adds.

"I-"

Yusuke grins. "And you're more of a people person than any of us."

"That's-not-going-to-work." I speak quickly so that I won't be cut off.

The other men look at me in confusion. After taking a breath, I start to explain.

"Think of it this way. All four of us are spirit detectives. Our job was to kill demons. She already thinks we want to kill her. Right now, she is probably confused as to why she hasn't been killed yet. Also all of us are male." I pause to let the information sink in.

Yusuke looks a bit annoyed. "So what if we're all guys?"

"What Kurama is saying is that the girl will get suspicious," Hiei tells him.

I nod. "She will be less likely to trust us."

"And girls have a whole sisterhood thing so she might trust another female demon." Kazuma says, finally coming to the point.

"Demon or human," I correct. "We could always ask Keiko or Botan to help as well."

"Should we really be bringing the girls into this?" Yusuke asks with a frown on his face. "We know nothing about this demon or what she wants. For all we know, she could be planning on attacking us."

I shake my head. "Tsukino-san is not a fighter, Yusuke."

The man scowled. "Still. The girls don't have any experience in fighting. What happens if the something the demon was dreaming about attacks her? The girls could get badly hurt."

I sigh. "Fine, I'll talk to her and asking the girls will be our backup plan."

Kazuma looks thoughtful. "Or we could just ask Genkai since the demon seems to trust her already."

Yusuke snorts. "I'm willing to bet the hag threatened her."

"Hey dimwit!" We turn around to see Genkai behind us. Out of all of us, Yusuke looks the most frightened, probably because he's training with her later. There is a slight pause, and then Genkai says, "Go get Tsukino-chan. It's time for dinner."

* * *

_White page, White page  
__Writing with all my might_

* * *

Trust

After the detectives left, I was on my own in the room. For a moment, I was surprised that they had actually left me alone. It would have been easy for me to walk out of the room and make a run for it. In fact, I almost thought about running when I remembered I had no where to go and how easily Genkai found me. Now, that was someone you didn't want to get on the wrong side of.

So I sat, waiting in the room for the detectives to come back. Before they did someone else entered the room. It was a human woman with brown eyes and brown hair. I was surprised to see her in the room, but I was even more surprised to see that she was expecting a child. What were those detectives thinking?! If I had been any other demon, that woman could have been on the ground, dead.

The woman had sat down in front of me while I was lost in my thoughts. By the time I realized she was in front of me, she had already asked me a question twice.

"Sorry?" I said when I realized she had been speaking.

She sighed. "I said, so you're the reason that the guys were called by Koenma?"

The way she worded it made me feel guilty. She was obviously one of the detectives' mates. Unsure of what to say, I said the only thing that came to my mind. "Sorry."

She sighed again. "What's your name?"

For a second, I tried to remember the name I gave to the detective with red hair. "Tsukino."

The woman nodded. "I'm Urameshi Keiko."

I bowed my head in a sign of respect. "It's nice to meet you, Urameshi-san."

Urameshi nodded. "Call me Keiko. So I bet you're wondering where you are."

I nodded.

"Do you know who Genkai is?"

Again I nodded. "Yes."

"You're at her temple." The woman was silent for a moment before she asked, "Do you know who screamed just a little while ago?"

I looked down, ashamed. "That was me."

Keiko gave me a confused look so I said, "I woke up from a nightmare screaming, and I kinda slapped a guy and called him a pervert before I stopped to think about where I was."

Keiko nodded and seemed to be hiding a grin. She was about to say something else when Urameshi entered the room. At once, he flipped out. He demanded to know what Keiko was doing alone with me. She got angry and told him to stop being overprotective and that she was just fine. While they fought, I finally realized that they were mates.

Finally, they stopped fighting long enough for Urameshi to remember he had come to deliver a message.

"The old hag says dinner is ready," he informed us.

Keiko nodded and motioned for me to follow her to the dining room. I obeyed, slightly confused as to why Keiko was treating me like an equal. Back in Demon World, everyone said that if the detectives were merciless if they caught you. It was said that they would either kill you quickly or keep you locked up in a little room until they decided your fate. There was nothing said about being expected to eat with them.

I ended up sitting between Keiko and a girl with blue hair and pink eyes, who introduced herself as Botan. When the food was given out, I just barely managed to hide my hunger. The bar didn't pay waitresses well so it was a bit hard to get decent food with the little money I had.

Part way through dinner, Botan asked if she could see my ears since I still had them close to my head. Slowly, I managed to let my ears move back up to their normal upright position. The next thing I knew, Botan and Keiko were saying that my ears were cute and asking everyone else's opinions which caused my ears to fall back again. The short demon made no comment other than 'Hn.' The blue haired, red eyed, ice demon smiled and agreed. Urameshi muttered, 'Whatever,' as he continued to stuff his face. The orange haired detective loved them and said that my ears were like his cat's. And Genkai shook her head in amusement. The red haired detective was the only one who did and said nothing.

After Keiko and Botan were done asking about my ears, they asked if I had a tail. I nodded and felt my tail, which was wrapped around my waist, stiffen at the thought of what their next question could be. When Keiko asked her next question, the one I really didn't want to answer, I pulled my wings even closer to my back, out of instinct.

"So what kind of demon are you?"

"Part bat and part cat," I forced myself to answer. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the red haired detective's head shoot up from eating to look at me. (At least, I think he was looking at me.) He seemed to be looking at me in surprise and almost as if I reminded him of something. It was only for a second though, and he turned back to his food.

After a few moments, the red haired detective looked up again and said, "Perhaps, we should introduce ourselves to Tsukino-san."

Urameshi didn't really like the idea. "What's the point? She has to know who we are by now," he said.

The red haired detective sighed but didn't answer Urameshi. "I'm Kurama," he said to me.

The ice demon spoke next. "I'm Yukina."

I nodded.

The orange haired detective said, "My name is Kuwabara Kazuma, and the shrimp over there is Hiei."

Keiko looked over at Urameshi as if telling him to introduce himself. When he didn't, she glared at him causing him to mutter, "Urameshi Yusuke."

I nodded again. "It's nice to meet you all," I managed to said.

After dinner, I helped the other girls clear the table. While we did that, the guys disappeared outside, not that I really noticed since Keiko was bombarding me with questions about Demon World. When she finally finished, Genkai called to Kurama and asked him to show me around. He gave me a quick tour and then showed me the room where I would be staying for the time I was at Genkai's. I thought he was going to leave after that, but to my surprise, he sat down instead. With a sinking feeling, I realized that he had some questions to ask me. With a shiver running down my spine, I sat down in front of him and waited for his first question.

* * *

_White page, white page  
__Help me see what's right_

* * *

"It's settled then. Kurama will be the one to talk to her." Hiei smirks at me when he says this. He disappears a second later leaving me with Yusuke and Kazuma. They disappear soon afterwards.

When we had finished dinner, the other detectives and I went outside to discuss our plan one more time. I tried to give the other detectives reasons why I shouldn't try to talk to Tsukino, but my friends were very stubborn. They all were sure that I would be the best choice, and before I knew it, Yusuke was wearing his victory grin.

I regret agreeing to help with this mission, but it's too late to go back now.

Yusuke's voice pulls me out of my thoughts as he and Kazuma walk away.

"We'll have this mission over in no time," he says with a smile.

"No kidding. All Kurama has to do is turn on the charm, and she'll be eating out his hands," Kazuma comments.

I sigh and start walking towards the woods that surround Genkai's temple. Things are not going as I had hoped, though the others have a point. Out of all of us, I am the most logical choice, but I still think having one of the girls talk to Tsukino is a wiser choice.

"Kurama."

I turn and come face to face with Genkai. "Yes?" I answer.

"Show Tsukino-chan around, will you?" she asks.

I nod and go with Genkai to get Tsukino. After I give her a quick tour, I show her where she'll be staying until Koenma gives us further instructions. On the way to her room, I have to stop myself from sighing. I have to admit that I'm jealous of the other detectives' faith in my abilities. To be honest, I doubt it will be as easy as they think since I have a feeling that Tsukino's personality is nothing like my fans I had in school.

When we arrive at her room, I sit down and wait for her to the same. Once she has, I say, "I suppose you have questions."

She looks at the floor and pauses for a moment, before quietly saying, "Genkai-sama told me how I came here. And Keiko-san explained where I am. But neither of them told me **why **I am here."

I don't answer her but instead remain silent. After a few moments she looks up at me, and I'm surprised to see that she is determined.

"Why didn't you and the others kill me? Isn't that your job?"

"Our job is to protect this world," I reply.

"You didn't answer my question," she tells me.

I reply with a question of my own. "Why would we kill you?"

She is getting frustrated now. "You are a spirit detective! You're supposed to kill demons, aren't you?"

I shrug.

"Then why don't you kill me? Are you planning on selling me or something!?"

I give her a surprised look. Where did she get that idea from? "Why would we sell you?"

"I don't know! You humans are so messed up!"

I can't think of anything to say so we fall into silence again. After a moment or two, I decide to try again. "We aren't going to kill you or sell you. Our orders are to protect you."

"Why?"

I answer truthfully. "I don't know."

She doesn't seem convinced. "How do I know you aren't lying?"

I look her in the eye. "Spirit Detectives don't sell demons. Only truly greedy humans and demons do."

"You didn't say anything about not killing me."

"As long as you don't attack anyone, we won't have to." I say it calmly, but she still doesn't seem to believe me.

I realize that I'm getting nowhere so I try to change the subject. "So what's Demon World like now?"

She shrugs. "Where I am it's the same as always. Dangerous, blood thirsty, horrible."

"And you want to go back?"

She looks just as surprised as I feel at the question. I wait for a reply, but she doesn't answer my question. When I realize she's not going to talk to me any longer, I get up, say goodnight, and leave. Now I have to come up with a reason why Plan A won't work so that we don't waste anymore time.

I am just feet away from my room when Yusuke and Kazuma, both wearing huge grins, attack me. Botan quickly joins our group.

"Did you get the information you needed?" she asks.

"Of course he got the information!" Yusuke says with a laugh. "He's Kurama, Botan!"

I shake my head, and others look at me in disbelief. "I was unable to. She doesn't trust me in the least, and besides I have no idea what sort of information I'm trying to get," I explain.

"I guess we'll just have to wait for her to trust you and for Koenma's orders," Kazuma says.

Botan seems to be angered by something because she just whacked me. "Kurama! I thought you were better than that!"

I look at her in confusion and wait for her to explain.

"Using your charm to make a girl trust you, just to get information from her! What sort of gentleman are you?!" Botan yells at me.

Yusuke and Kazuma are laughing, but they stop when Botan turns to them. "And you two! Why didn't you stop him!?"

She makes it sound like the plan was my idea.

"Take a chill pill Botan. It's not like Kurama is going to seduce her or something," Yusuke says with another grin and a slightly suggestive wink in Kazuma's direction.

Before Botan is able to give an angry reply, the other detectives and I excuse ourselves and head to our rooms for the night. I update my case journal and turn in for the night wondering why Koenma is being so vague in his orders. The only time he has been so vague before was when we were facing Sensui.

A thought suddenly strikes me.

Could Tsukino be ensnared in some dark Spirit World secret? And if she is, what is that secret, and does she even know about it?

* * *

**A/N: So that's chapter two and I apologize for any typos or grammar mistakes. So what did you think? Was it good? Need some work? Tell me! Thanks for reading and please review!**

**-D101**

**P.S Updating could take some time since now I have to write from scratch (before I had a bit of the original chapter two to work with) and I still don't have a plot. But I will update. See ya, when I do!**

**-D101**


	3. Harmless Chopsticks? Kurama thinks not

**A/N: Damn. I hate filler, but now I know why people have the OC go to school with Kurama. It makes great filler, but since I'm a git, that's not going to happen. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and I hope all the readers who didn't review are enjoying this story. Also I'm redoing chapters as I go so if you look at earlier chapters and this story, Kuwabara is called Kazuma in Kurama's POV. And recaps will be shorter from now on.**

**Also please note that the story will jump days at a time at random times so keep a careful eye on the date on Kurama's entries.**

_Disclaimer: If I had a dollar for every time I had to write this stupid thing, then I _**WOULD**_ be able to own Yu Yu Hakusho. Sigh. But for now I'll just settle with owning the plot and Tsukino._

* * *

_Recap:_ Tsukino is a bat/cat demon who fell into Human World through a portal while being chased by a group of demons. Kurama is the first to find her and tries to calm her down. But when Hiei arrives on the scene, Tsukino panics and flees. After a chase, Tsukino ducks into the sewers where Oshiro, a rich human, tries to capture her. She escapes and runs into the detectives again before passing out. A week later she awakes to find herself at Genkai's temple. During the week she was unconscious, the detectives have received no orders from Koenma other than to protect Tsukino. The day that she awakes, the men are told to get some information from her but they are not told what kind. After a short debate on possible strategies, Kurama is elected to befriend Tsukino and obtain the information from her. Kurama is appalled by the idea and refuses to believe that it will work. So far (just like in everything else) he is correct, but there is a first for everything. Who knows, Kurama might finally be wrong for once.

* * *

**Say It If It's Worth Saving Me  
****Chapter Three  
A Night Time Walk Part 1**

The First Attack on Temple Grounds

The next morning, Yukina awoke me and led the way from my room to the dinning room. Breakfast was uneventful except for the fight between Yusuke and Kuwabara, which, I was told, happened every morning. After breakfast, I helped clean up and went back to my room since I couldn't think of anything else to do.

For a few moments, I laid on my cot trying to come up with some sort of plan of escape. I thought over what I knew about the Spirit Detectives besides their names.

Urameshi Yusuke was very powerful, and if his Spirit Gun wasn't scary enough, his Shotgun would send you running for cover.

I had managed to hear one of Kuwabara Kazuma's fights in the Dark Tournament over my broken radio, and to be frank, he didn't sound very impressive. Still, for a normal human his skill was beyond impressive when he was using his Spirit Sword.

The most I knew about Hiei's attacks was that his greatest one was the Dragon of the Darkness Flame.

As for Kurama, I knew that he was truly a fox demon called Yoko Kurama, but, since I had little to no idea who that was, that didn't help me much. What I did know was that his Rose Whip and demonic plants were the last thing you would see ever in a fight if you were his opponent.

With a disheartening frown, I realized I knew virtually nothing about my opponents or where I was. I knew I was in Human World, but Human World was just as big as Demon World, and I knew for a fact how easy it was to get lost in Demon World. With a shiver running down my spine, I hoped that it wasn't as easy to get attacked in Human World as it was in the Demon World.

I shook my head and tried to get back on track. I had to find a way back to Demon World, the only question was how?

My thoughts came to a stop again. Why **did** I want to go back to Demon World? Slowly I found the answer. Even though my life back there was horrible, it was far better than waiting around for death to come to my doorstep.

After that thought, I tried to get back on track again only to get distracted by the sounds of the temple. Though my sense of smell was just barely better than a human's, my sense of hearing was far more advanced than even some demons due to my bat demon blood. I could hear Urameshi and Kuwabara fighting on the other side of the temple, and Keiko telling them not to break anything. Inside the temple, in one of the many rooms, I heard a page of a book turn in a soft and rhythmic way. Closer to my room, I could hear Yukina happily talking to Botan and Genkai in the kitchen. Somewhere in the surrounding forest I heard someone or something moving around. I decided it must have been Kurama or Hiei since I didn't hear either of their voices anywhere in the temple.

Then the sounds of the forest, itself, swept over me, and I felt at peace. For a moment, I almost wished I was laying on the soft grass instead of the warm and comfy bed. Little animals were squeaking in terror of the thing- Hiei I decided- as he rushed through the forest. I smiled a bit as I heard the sound of birds chipping to each other as if talking. Then the sound of the trees swaying in the wind came to my ears and, slowly I realized, I was losing my grip on consciousness. For a moment, I fought against the darkness that was so welcoming. _I have to think up a plan!_ I reasoned with myself. But after another moment, I gave up. I hadn't had a decent sleep in forever, and my nocturnal blood quickly overpowered my diurnal state of mind.

Within seconds, the trees had sung me to sleep.

* * *

_White Page, White Page  
Locked up in the Night_

* * *

Day Nine

I sigh as a turn another page of my book. For some reason, I'm having trouble concentrating on it, and it's not because of Yusuke and Kazuma fighting. The book just isn't holding my attention so I put it down on the table beside me. There is no point trying to continue since I will only have to reread it later. And since Hiei isn't around to spar, I am unable to do anything else but sit and stare into space. I think I will try to create a strategy for how the other detectives and I can obtain some information from Tsukino.

****

I still have not come up with a strategy other than the one I have already suggested so I've started writing down what possible information might be useful to obtain from Tsukino. It may not be the information Spirit World is missing, but it might be useful in the long run.

1. How did she come across the portal in the first place and what caused her to enter it? I doubt it was of her own free will since she believes that we kill any demons that enter Human World.

2. What are her abilities? Does she have any others besides being able to create a bright light that effectually blinds her opponents?

3. Is she, or has she been involved in any sort of Spirit World conspiracy at any time? If she has, this would explain the lack of information Koenma is giving us.

4. Why did she think Spirit Detectives sold demons off to the highest bidder?

And finally, 5. If someone forced her into Human World, are they here as well? And what do they want?

Just as I finish writing down my list, Genkai appears at my door informing me of lunch. Slightly surprised by how long I have been in my room, I follow her to the dinning room. When I arrive, I'm not surprised to see Yusuke and Keiko fighting over what and how much she is eating. I suppose it's to be expected of the new father. Kazuma is talking with Yukina as Hiei looks on. Genkai and Botan are talking as well. At that moment, I realize that Tsukino is missing.

I casually ask where she is, and Yukina informs me that she went to get Tsukino, but there wasn't an answer from inside the room.

"I was about to enter the room when Genkai walked down the hall. She told me that Tsukino-chan might be feeling a bit under the weather and to set aside some food for her to eat later," she tells me.

I nod and Yusuke speaks.

"Speaking of feeling under the weather, is it just me or is it a bit stuffy in here?"

Kazuma nods in agreement. "Yeah, the aura around this place seems to have thickened."

"Last night I thought I sensed something so I informed Genkai," I explain. "She felt it would be wise to strengthen the borders around the temple."

"So you weren't looking at Tsukino-san?" Kazuma asks.

I shake my head, a bit confused as to why Kazuma thought that.

"So what will those borders do?" Keiko asks.

"The borders keep weaker demons outside the boundaries of the temple. They also give a warning when a stronger demon enters the grounds," Yukina explains.

"It will also prevent Tsukino-chan from running off," Genkai adds. "She'll be weak for a little while as her body adjusts to having spirit energy in the air 24/7."

The rest of the detectives nod as I return to my meal. I have barely taken a bite when Yusuke says, "So I guess you haven't had any luck in your mission, have you Kurama?"

I freeze with the food inches from my mouth. "No. I haven't," I say evenly as I start to eat again, hoping that no one would ask what Yusuke was talking about. I do not want to get hit over the head again or worse. Even if the women aren't very strong, you would be surprised what damaged can be done with simple, innocent chopsticks.

"What mission?" Keiko asks.

It appears fate is not on my side today.

Botan glared in my direction as she says, "Kurama came up with a plan to get information out of Tsukino-chan by tricking her into trusting him."

I wonder if Koenma is still mad about how I left my original body and possessed a human fetus instead of dieing. If he is, I don't think he'll have to worry about me being alive for much longer since Keiko looks like she's going to murder me.

"Hang on. You make it sound like it's a bad plan," Yusuke cuts in.

"That's because it is!" Keiko angrily points out. "You are tricking an innocent girl into who knows what!"

"Well it's better than Kurama's idea. He wanted you girls to talk to her."

Yukina looks at us, completely confused. "Wasn't it Kurama's idea to trick her into trusting him?"

I shake my head. "No. That was the others' idea. My idea was to ask one of you ladies to talk to Tsukino-san, since she would probably feel more comfortable answering questions asked by another woman. Then you could use your judgement and tell us what we needed to find out as well as keep things confidential."

The women all nod.

"But Kurama was out voted so we are going with Plan A," Yusuke adds.

Sensing a fight, I quickly excuse myself and walk away from the table. I put my dishes away after washing them, and head off to my room.

I am a few feet from my room when I notice something moving in the forest. Being the cautious/curious fox I am, I walk towards the forest to investigate. When I arrive, I look for signs of an animal. I find none, and I start to doubt my eyes. I check again but still find nothing. Unsure what else to do, I start to continue my journey to my room, but even as I enter the temple, I can't help but look over my shoulder at the forest. I can't help but feel that there is something in the forest. Something that shouldn't be.

* * *

_White Page, White Page  
Where is my Knight?_

* * *

I didn't return to the Realm of Consciousness until it was almost time for dinner. (It turned out I had slept through Yukina knocking on my door to inform me of lunch.) Luckily (or unluckily) I was used to skipping meals so I managed to hide how truly hungry I was. I could tell that Hiei and Kurama weren't fooled though.

After dinner, I helped with the dishes again and listened to Yukina and Keiko talk about her baby. I almost asked when the child was due but stopped myself. After all, it wasn't my place to ask. And from Urameshi's reaction to Keiko being alone with me, I wouldn't put it past him to think I was planning on attacking the soon-to-be mother. I could see where he was coming from, though. After all, it was probably their first child so he was going to be understandingly overprotective and having a demon he didn't know under the same roof as his mate probably wasn't helping things.

Once I was done helping with the dishes, I retired to my room and tried to sleep. To my annoyance, my nap during the day had thrown off my sleeping schedule. With a growl, I cursed my nocturnal blood from both the cat and bat demons. I was going to have to stay up all night and then all day just to counteract my demonic instincts to sleep during the day and play all night. At first I thought I would just stay in my room for the whole night, but after five minutes, I was craving a change in scenery. Slowly I decided to go outside. That way I would be able to learn more about the temple and get the change in scenery I was craving.

I went out my window so that I wouldn't disturb anyone. Once outside I headed for the forest for some reason. I think that I thought the forest would be the best place to start learning about the grounds without getting spotted by anyone on their way to the toilet. Once inside the forest, I followed one of the many forest paths and came to a lake surrounded by bamboo. I took a moment to look around before turning onto another path.

Just as I was turning onto the new path, I could've sworn that I heard something on the water bank side opposite to me. I turned around to see if there was anything in the bamboo, but there wasn't anything. No broken reeds. No moving plants. Even the water was still. But that didn't stop me from checking over my shoulder every few steps as I continued on my walk.

I walked for an hour on the path and saw nothing but trees and heard nothing but the wind and the occasional noise that would cause me to look over my shoulder in paranoia. In retrorespect, I should have realized then that something was seriously off. No matter when you enter a forest, a demon like me should have heard some sort of noise from the animals that lived in the area. But I didn't. I should have seen at least one owl flying around, but I saw none.

It took about another hour for me to truly realize the danger surrounding me. During that time, I had been doing far more shoulder checks and was almost positive that something was following me. Because of that, I had even climbed up a tree and started jumping from tree to tree to travel so that I would have a better view of the area around me. Even then I didn't see any animals or people.

Finally, just when I was making the decision to turn back, the danger showed itself. I had just climbed back down from the trees and was starting on my way, when I suddenly smelled a disgustingly mutilated scent. It smelt like a mix between wet dog hair, what I thought smelt like wet tiger fur, the scent of garbage, and the distinct scent of blood.

At once I whipped around looking for the source of the scent. If it was close enough for me to smell it, it was definitely close enough to kill me! I found the source just as it pounced, and I quickly jumped back. Unfortunately, I hadn't jumped back far enough so the thing took another lunge at me and managed to scratch my recently healed right wing. Without waiting a second for me to make a sound of pain, the thing leaped at me again. I managed to side-step out of the way and quickly started running. I had no idea where I was headed but anywhere was better than back there with that thing.

I wasn't sure what it looked like. I wasn't sure what it wanted. All I knew was that I didn't want to find out so I ran like Hell. Unfortunately, this thing ran as if it was coming to _drag_ me to Hell! It cut me off just as I neared the lake with the bamboo. I quickly stopped running, and the thing turned to face me like a cat did to a cornered mouse.

Its purple irises looked at me as its green pupils dilated in the light of the moon. Slowly, and deliberately, it stalked towards me. Just as slowly, I took a step back. The thing watched my movements in a curiously doglike way. The thing didn't look very doglike, nor did it look very catlike. It was about the size of a male lion but had the aura of a wolf. Its fur and tail were like a black lab's; its tail almost like a feather. But its eyes and claws were catlike, perfectly suited for night and ripping through flesh. The creature also seemed to have a blonde mane like a lion, but the muzzle of a fox.

I turned pale at the thought of what damage the claws and the fangs from the drooling mouth could do. I didn't waste time with pleads to deities. I knew they weren't listening and even if they were, they were only going to save me and then throw me into a worse situation. So I waited for my end. I didn't run nor did I hide. I simply waited.

I wasn't sure why I was waiting when I could have easily ran away until I found a place where I could take to the air and be out of harm's way. Perhaps, I was just done with life. I wasn't useful for anything, and the detectives were going to kill me eventually. "Better to die by the hands of a fellow demon than by the hands of a detective," I had been told many times, and like it or not, whatever the thing in front of me was, it was undoubtedly demonic.

The thing came closer and closer to me, slowly circling me. Slowly I realize that I felt drawn into the motion of the creature. The motion was virtually hypnotic. If I had wanted to run now, I wouldn't have been able to. For whatever reason, I felt rooted to the spot, as if if the creature stopped circling, the world would end.

Then, in my virtually brain-dead state, I recalled a killing I had witness many years ago. It wasn't demons dieing, just simple animals. A cat had been sitting by itself in the middle of a field when a fox appeared in the same field. The cat didn't even notice the fox as it continued cleaning itself. Slowly the fox spiralled the whole field until it was virtually back where it started. It continued forming a spiral as it creeped closer and closer to the cat. By now the cat had noticed the fox but was too absorbed by the circling motion to care. Finally the fox was close enough to the cat to attack it, and that was the end of the cat.

The very same thing was happening to me now. Perhaps it had been some sort of warning, or foreshadowing. I didn't know nor care. If it meant the end to my pathetic existence, that was fine by me at that point in time.

Un/Fortunately, Fate didn't want my story to end there. Just as the creature was about to go for my neck to complete the kill, something came pelleting out of the bush towards us. Within seconds the creature was dead laying just beside me, and I was staring wide eyed at the person who had just delayed my demise.

* * *

**Vote! Who should be the one to save Tsukino? Please review or PM me with your answer.**

**Reply to reviewers (I might have already contacted you, but if I've forgotten, Gomen!)**

**incartnationofvictory – Thanks for the review and agreeing with me. I'm sorry about being confusing but it will all make sense soon… I think. Please keep reading.**

**Angel Diary – Thanks for reading even though you have no idea about the anime. Typing of that, have you watched any episodes yet? Please keep reading.**

**Lights aura858 – Thanks for reading and please keep doing so.**

**Stephan Cardin – I redid Hiei's line in the first chapter just for you, and Yusuke's OOCness is explained here. How am I doing now? Oh! And don't worry, 3****rd**** person shall return. Unfortunately, you'll have to wait a little while before it does. Please keep reading.**

**Kaori Minamino – Thanks for reading and please keep doing so.**

**CrazzyAssBadger – You still with us here? Oh well. If you are still reading, thanks!**

**To all other people: Thanks for reading. Maybe you'll review this time.**

**A/N: Yeah. I know. I know. Short Chapter. But at least it's an update. Sorry about not updating faster but I got writer's block, my ego took a hit from betaing another story (just when I thought I was doing so well (No offence to my beta), etc.**

**And cue the begging. I really need someone's honest opinion on whether Tsukino is a Mary Sue or not. I badly need to know so that I can fix her character if she is one. And does anyone know what Kurama's real job is? Apparently he works with his step-dad, but I don't know what they do.**

**And if everyone could please vote, it would be very useful since I'm brain dead here. I want it to be Kurama, but I also don't want it to be Kurama. You know how it is, so please help.**

**Anyways, please review and I'll see you all when I reply to your reviews or when I update next.**

**See ya later!**

**-D101**


	4. Topless Hot?

_Disclaimer: I, Daeth101 – Fox Version, only own the plot, poems in the page breaks (forgot to say that in chapter 2&3), and Tsukino at this current time._

**A/N: Am I the only one to notice how the titles you see in the corner over to the right usually give no real hint to what the chapter is about? Oh well. Thanks for voting everyone. And don't worry; your votes do count for something. I never said when she would be 'saved,' now did I? And now! The new chapter!**

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_Recap: _Due to the boundaries around the temple being strengthened, Tsukino took a nap during the day, which resulted in her demonic instincts acting up, forcing her to become temporarily nocturnal. Since she was unable to sleep, she snuck out of her room and entered the forest surrounding the temple. There she encountered a beast that was half canine, half feline. Just when the creature was about to end her life, the creature dropped dead. Who killed the beast and who will save Tsukino from this mess that she has somehow gotten herself into?

* * *

**Say It If It's Worth Saving Me  
****Chapter Four  
****A Night Time Walk Part 2**

The Second Attack on Temple Grounds

At that moment, I could have sworn I was dreaming. There was no way he could be standing in front of me. They couldn't have tracked me that fast! Then again, I **had** been out for a week. But still! He shouldn't have been standing right in front of me while holding a handgun that was pointed at my heart.

"Well, well, look what the mutt dragged in," Stato said as he stepped towards me.

I forced myself to stand up tall regardless of how helpless I was feeling. If I used my new power– Shiro, I decided to call it- it would alert the detectives, and that was the last thing I needed. They would be already wondering why I was running around late at night, and I had no doubt that Kurama would pick up on Stato's scent. Even if he didn't, a corpse hiding in the forest was bound to raise eyebrows. Besides, Stato already knew about Shiro so he would be expecting it. My best bet was to run back to temple and hope that Stato wouldn't follow me.

Before I could make a run for it, he grabbed my left arm and started dragging me to the boundary of the temple. At once I started to feel light-headed and tried to pull back. Stato didn't notice though, and he merely pulled me closer to the invisible wall of energy. With no other options, I slashed at his arm with my rarely used claws. Unfortunately, he was prepared for that. He let go of my left arm, stepped behind me, and grabbed my right one.

"Now, now, puppy," he said as he twisted my arm painfully behind my back. "It's not wise to bite the hand that feeds you."

"Then it's a good thing you don't feed me," I snapped back as my arm was twisted even more. "What do you want?!"

"It's not what I want; it's what your master wants. And right now, he wants to play with his new puppy."

I knew that if he didn't stop twisting my arm, it would break. I was running out of options. Shiro was useless, I couldn't use my claws, my wings were pinned under my arm, and if I moved, I was going to end up with a dislocated arm. I decided the best thing I could do was play for time and hope that someone would notice that I was missing- Preferably Kuwabara since he seemed to be the only detective that didn't hate me or try to get information out of me.

I looked around for something that would aid me in playing for time. My eyes fell on the corpse. "What was that thing you killed?" I demanded to know.

"An experiment that went awry. It was supposed to find you and drag you back to Oshiro-sama, but it decided to try eat you instead. Lucky for you that I followed it."

Oh yeah. Lucky me.

Stato wasn't done though. "And to think that she used to be just like you. A demon. But she didn't listen very well so Oshiro-sama had her turned over to his scientists and you know the rest. I suggest you learn from her mistake. Now let's go. Oshiro-sama is not a patient man."

Sweat was running down my face as I tried to figure a way out of the situation. My arm was still behind my back and throbbing in pain. I was out of ammo and, by the sounds of it, out of time.

Suddenly a thought hit me. There** was** something I could do, but it would involve breaking my honour code. I never liked to use others' weaknesses caused by gender against them.

Stato twisted my arm again and started walking me away from the temple.

Then again, he was using my weakness against me. It was only fair to return the favour. Thank goodness for not having an honour code that was written in stone!

I risked the dislocated arm, and kicked him where it **would** hurt. Just as I had hoped, he stumbled back and released my arm. Unfortunately, he pulled my arm as well causing it to become dislocated from the shoulder. I bit back a hiss of pain and ran while clutching my arm.

Why was it always my right arm or wing that got damaged? I asked myself as I ran.

I didn't have long to think about it because I heard Stato shouting out words into the night. From the sounds of it, he was shouting orders to someone- or something. Suddenly, the forest was alive with the sounds of something following me. I stopped for a moment and looked around for a place to hide. The safest place to be would be the trees. I looked at my useless arm. With only one arm to climb with I wouldn't make it, it was too narrow to fly up, and if I jumped, I would damage my shoulder even more.

I heard the noises of hungry animals behind me, and against my better judgement, I looked over my shoulder. The sounds were coming from two creatures, and they were just as big as the first. I quickly started running again and made it back to the corpse of the first creature. For a second, I stared at the corpse in shock. I had been going around in a circle.

The creatures entered the area just seconds after me, and I turned to face them. Unlike the first creature, they didn't even try to circle me; they just charged at me. Over the sound of the creatures charging, I heard someone running towards the lake.

I decided I would use Shiro so that I could run out of there before Stato showed up. So I raised my good arm out of instinct. The creatures stopped for a second and looked at me in confusion as I felt power surge through me. Abruptly, a small globe of light came out of my hand and popped like a bubble. Both the creatures and I stared at my hand and tried to figure out what had just happened. We all knew that was not supposed to happen.

After a second, the creatures decided they didn't care and were hungry so they stalked towards me again. I took a step back and almost slipped on the wet ground of the water bank, but I managed to avoid falling into the water. Unfortunately, the slip caused me to look down at my feet instead of at the creatures. It would have been a fatal mistake.

The creatures took that second of vulnerability to leap into an attack. I turned to face them, ready for the bites of death that were sure to come.

Only one did. One creature dropped dead just as it stepped towards me. The other creature bit me on my left shoulder, and the force of its pounce forced me back into the lake. The creature and I fell under the surface, and I released the breath I was holding. There was no point. I was dead meat now.

* * *

_Black Page, Black Page  
__Covered in Sin_

* * *

Night Nine

It is odd for me to act on instinct now. After so many years of carefully controlled movements, emotions, and actions, I had almost forgotten what it felt like to act on impulse. I quickly became reacquainted with the sensation, though, when I saw Tsukino's situation by the lakeside.

When I caught Tsukino's scent outside on my way to get a drink of water from the kitchen, I became curious. I couldn't think of any reason why her scent would be coming from the forest or why it was so fresh. At once I went to investigate. After walking for a few moments, I came to the lake surrounded by bamboo. Before I even arrived, I caught the scent of Tsukino's blood in the air as well as another odour that caused my nose to winkle. After quickly deciding whatever was happening wasn't good, I ran towards the lake.

When I got there, Tsukino was already in rough shape and was standing at the edge of the water. She was clutching her right arm, and it seemed slightly out of place. One of her wings was also bleeding. It was then that I noticed the two creatures that about to pounce on her. The creatures seemed to be a mix of canine and feline genes, but I wasn't going to waste a second trying to figure out what they were. Quickly, I pulled a rose bud from my sleeve to form my Rose Whip and attacked the one closest to me.

I had hoped that I would be able to cut both of them in one attack. Unfortunately, the second one was faster and avoided my attack. It bit down into Tsukino's flesh, and they disappeared under the water.

***

They have only been under the water for a second.

Without thinking, I grab a blade of grass and dive into the water after them. I find them quickly, and using my spirit energy, I turn the blade of grass into a knife. Once I stab the creature, I remove it from Tsukino and pull her to the surface.

We break the surface at the same time, and it takes Tsukino a second to realize where she is. In that second, I notice that her wounds are still bleeding and her shoulder is dislocated.

Before I can point this out to her, she grabs onto the front of my shirt and buries her face in it. She is trembling horribly. Fearing that it has to do with her wounds, I slowly swim us over to the edge of the water. When our feet touch the ground, she seems to realize what she is doing and quickly pulls away from me. Her face is bright red as she turns away from me. My own face feels slightly warm as well. I hope it isn't as obvious as hers.

* * *

_Black Page, Black Page  
__Show Me Where to Begin_

* * *

At that moment, I wanted nothing more than to die. What had I been thinking?! Letting my fear of water overpower me like that! And worse it just **had** to be the one detective that was trying to get information out of me! Why was Fate playing with me like that? How long until it just finished the job!?

Kurama's voice cut into my silent rants, and for a second, I wondered whether I should ignore him or not. It would have been ungrateful of me to do so. After all, the guy **had** just saved my life. With a mental sigh, I politely asked him to repeat himself.

"What were you doing out at this hour?" he repeated.

"I could ask you the same thing," I replied. I said I would listen; I never said I would be helpful. After all, the guy **was** trying to get information from me.

Kurama sighed and, surprisingly, willingly answered my question. "I was on my way to the kitchen to get a drink when I caught your scent. I was curious why it was coming from the forest so I came to investigate."

I decided I should be fair and gave him the truth. "My nap messed up my sleeping schedule so I thought that I would explore the temple grounds so that I wouldn't disturb anyone."

Kurama nodded. "We'd better go get dried off before we both catch a cold. Do you want help with your injuries?"

I had forgotten about my pain until he said that. At once the pain came back at full force, and I winced as I answered, "I'm fine."

He didn't seem to like that answer, but he didn't force the issue as we walked back to the temple. "When we get back, I'll show you where the first aid kits are."

"Kits?" I asked.

He nodded again. "With Yusuke and Kazuma running around, it's always a good idea to have many first aid kits around the temple. You never know how much damage they are going to cause." He turned his head to look at me. "Just out of curiosity, how do you plan to relocate your arm?"

I avoided eye contact. "I'll find a way."

Again, Kurama didn't see to like my answer, but he didn't try to change my mind. He kept looking at me as we walked, and his gaze seemed to harden as he asked his next question. "May I ask, what happened to your arm? The creatures can't have done it."

I had been hoping he wouldn't ask about my injuries, and I knew better than to refuse to tell him. "I fell from a tree and landed wrong." It was better to have him think of me as an idiot than to know the truth, I told myself. "After I fell from the tree, three creatures showed up and attacked me."

He frowned. "What killed the first one?"

He was really starting to get on my nerves now. Didn't he ever run out of questions? "Don't really know, don't really care."

He nodded slowly and turned his head back to the path in front of us, which was a huge comfort to me. Kurama seemed to be done asking questions for the moment. I sighed at the thought of what other things he may have seen.

***

When we got back to the temple Kurama dropped me off at my room and went off to get a first aid kit for me. He didn't return for a little while. During that time, I attempted to relocate my arm. Needless to say, when Kurama re-entered the room he was greeted with an odd sight. He didn't say anything about it though. Instead he put the bag he was carrying down, sat down on the bed beside me, and grabbed my left arm.

I was about to pull away from him when he touched my left shoulder with some sort of ointment which caused me to hiss at the stinging sensation. "I told you that I would tend to my wounds myself," I growled at him.

He just shrugged. "This way, I know that they will heal properly. Think of it as being better than being constantly asked if you are alright."

I remained silent and let him continue. I just hoped that he wouldn't ask any questions once he was done.

* * *

_Black Page, Black Page  
__Answers Hidden Here_

* * *

Tending to Tsukino actually is much easier than I had originally thought. The wounds are all clean so I rub some herbal ointment on them to help prevent inflection and promote healing. I am slightly grateful to see that the bite wounds are not as deep as I had thought so they do not need bandaging.

For a second, I feel my face heat up at the thought of trying to explain to Tsukino that she would have to remove her shirt. I quickly shake the thought out of my head and return to my task of rubbing ointment on the wound on her wing. When I had first put the ointment on her, Tsukino had hissed in pain so I decide I would have to find some way to distract her while I put it on her wing. I do that by gently stroking her undamaged wing with my other hand. She doesn't seem to notice, or if she does, she doesn't care.

Bandaging her wing takes no time at all, and now we are left with only her dislocated shoulder. I know what has to be done, but I'm hesitant to do so. I'm not worried about damaging her arm more. What worries me is if she pulls away when I am healing her arm. Perhaps it would be best to wait until everyone else is awake and ask Yukina or Botan to heal her. I frown to myself. If we did that then her arm would be like that all night.

Before I can come to a decision, Tsukino turns so that her right arm is facing me.

"Okay," she says as she readies herself for the pain.

I nod and try to relocate her arm as quickly as possible, even though I know the pain will last up to forty-eight hours (for humans) even after the arm is back in its proper location. With a forceful tug, I quickly move the bone back into its place.

Tsukino whimpers and grabs her right arm with her left. She turns her face from me so she doesn't notice as I pick up the ice bag I brought with me. Gently, I place it on her shoulder. I tell her to hold it there with her good arm. She doesn't turn to face me but moves her left hand so that she is holding the ice pack on her shoulder. I realize that her clothing is damp and am glad that I thought ahead. Looking around in my bag, I pull out some spare clothes. Tsukino stares at me in confusion.

"I apologize if they don't fit, but everyone else is asleep. Tomorrow, we'll buy you some clothes so you'll only have to deal with these until then," I explain as I hand her one of my shirts and pants. "It's better than waiting to catch a cold."

Tsukino nods and takes the clothes. I then walk towards the door to her room. At the door, I stop and turn back. "Goodnight Tsukino-san."

"Goodnight… and thank you, Kurama-san," she replies.

I nod and then head towards my room. After a quick update in my case journal, I lay down on my bed and attempt to fall asleep.

***

I'm not sure what I drank that had caffeine in it, but whatever it was, the caffeine is doing its job. After at least two hours of trying everything I can think of to fall asleep, I am still awake. Finally, I decide to go and get that glass of water I was originally planning to get before I ran into Tsukino.

After drinking a glass of water, I return to my room. Before I get there, though, I run into Hiei.

"She overheard us," he tells me.

I stare at him in confusion. "What?"

"The demon. She overheard our plan. She's sitting in her room thinking about it," Hiei explains as he leads me farther away from my room, which is in the same direction as Tsukino's.

"How?" I ask.

Hiei scowls. "Apparently, her hearing is far superior to even ours. Probably because of her bat demon blood."

I nod. "Does she know of our backup plan?"

Hiei shakes his head. "If she does, she isn't thinking about it. So now what, Fox?"

I sigh. "We speak to the ladies and ask them to see what information they can obtain. If it is of value, they will inform us. Other than that, we will continue acting as if we are still using Plan A."

Hiei nods and disappears into the night leaving me to walk back to my room. With nothing else to do, I finally fall asleep and wait for the morning.

* * *

_Black Page, Black Page  
__I Can't Have Fear_

* * *

The next morning, I kept my distance from Kurama and avoided being seen by any of the detectives by hiding in my room. I reasoned that if I didn't leave my room then there was no way that the pig, Oshiro, could get me. His thugs avoided the Spirit Detectives for some reason. Keiko came and dropped off food for breakfast. She also was kind enough to bring me another ice pack for my shoulder when she noticed that the one I had was melted. When she dropped off some food for lunch, she sat down and talked to me.

"You don't have to stay locked up, you know," Keiko told me.

I nodded. "I just feel safer here. Like I can't cause any problems if I stay in one place."

Keiko nodded in understanding. "I know how you feel. While at the Dark Tournament, I avoided Yusuke because I was scared that I would cause problems for him by telling him to quit."

I shook my head. "I'm not worried about causing those sorts of problems," I muttered.

Keiko gave me a knowing smile. "Well whatever you are worried about, don't be. The guys can handle anything, and I **do** mean anything."

What if it was the detectives I was worried about? I silently wondered.

We were silent for a moment before Keiko gave me a grin. I stared at her, confused, until she spoke.

"So is there any reason why you are wearing Kurama's clothing?"

I looked down at my feet. That was the second reason I was hiding in my room. I didn't want people getting ideas. "I fell into the lake, and since I didn't have anything to change into, and everyone else was asleep, Kurama-san lent me some of his clothing."

Keiko nodded again, excused herself, and left the room. She returned moments later with some fabric in her arms. "You can wear this since I can't right now, and once I convince Yusuke to let us go to the mall, we can get you some clothes of your own," Keiko told me as she handed me a small bundle of clothing.

I hand her the bundle back. "You don't have to. My clothes are dry now so I'll just change into them and give Kurama-san his back."

This woman was determined for some odd reason. "And what do you plan on wearing tomorrow?" She asked me with an arched eyebrow.

I gave her a confused look. "The same thing I wear every day," I replied with complete honesty. Most demons that lived like me did that. Living off what they could, fighting with each other, and drinking until they had puked out their brains. It was just a way of life for us.

Keiko shook her head furiously as she grabbed my arm. "That's it! We're going shopping!"

Unfortunately for me, she had grabbed my right arm so I was forced to follow. As we made our way down the hall, I prayed that we wouldn't meet anyone, especially any of the detectives. Fate really didn't like me that day because Keiko and I ran smack dab into Botan.

"Where's the fire?" she asked in her usual cheery voice. Then she noticed my clothes, and I could almost see smoke coming out of her ears. "Those men!" she muttered to herself not knowing I could hear her. No doubt, she knew of the men's plans and was thinking that Kurama had seduced me or something.

"Tsukino-chan fell into the lake so Kurama lent her some clothing since she only had what she was wearing before. So we are going shopping now," Keiko explained.

They say pregnancy does weird things to a person. I could only assume that was the reason Keiko was acting like that because judging from the look of Botan's face, Keiko usually wouldn't have acted in such a manner over clothing.

It took a second for Botan's look of confusion to turn into a huge grin. "Right-o! To the mall we go!"

She turned around and yelled into the halls of the temple. "Yukina! Genkai! Keiko and I are taking Tsukino-chan for a walk!" Without waiting for an answer she grabbed my other arm, and they started walking me to the entrance of the temple.

I couldn't help but feel something was wrong. Not with the women who were dragging me down the hallways, but with myself. It just didn't feel right. These women- they were being so open with me. So carefree. As if I was their friend and not a demon who had been captured by their friends (or in Keiko's case, mate). The feeling was suffocating me and was only getting worse.

"Uh… Shouldn't we ask the detectives about this or something?" I managed to ask.

Botan shook her head with a sly grin on her face. "You know men. They just don't understand the basic needs of women."

Keiko also turned to look at me, her brown eyes sparkling. "Come on. Before Yusuke shows up and tries to stop us."

I didn't move from my spot, and the other women looked at me in confusion. "Uh… I don't know whether you realized this… but I can't really go outside…" I moved my ears to get the point across.

They both look at each other. In their rush to buy clothes, they had completely forgotten about my demonic features.

"Well, it's only your wings and ears that are the problem. Those pants hide your tail quite well," Keiko commented.

Suddenly, Botan jumped up. "I've got just the thing. I'll be right back," Botan called over her shoulder as she started to run off. She only got a few steps before she screeched to a halt, barely avoiding crashing into Yukina.

"Oh good. I thought you had already left," the woman said as she rushed over to Keiko and me. When she reached us, she handed me a baseball cap, a sweater, and a backpack.

"Great thinking Yukina!" Keiko said. "She can tie the sweater around her waist to completely hide the bump where her tail is. And we can cut a hole in her shirt and in the backpack so that her wings can fit in the backpack."

I gave Keiko a confused look. "Uh… Keiko-san… I don't think Kurama-san would be very happy if he got his shirt back with holes in it."

Yukina gave me a sweet smile. "Don't worry. I can sew up the holes once you are done shopping. And I don't think Kurama would mind all that much. That shirt has been ripped up more times than he can remember."

"Didn't he fight Roto in that shirt?" Keiko asked.

Botan nodded. "And Gattasval."

"And Gama and Touya."

Botan suddenly had a thoughtful look on her face. "Would you count Brakuken? Kurama was unconscious when he 'fought' him."

Before anyone could answer, I sighed. "Okay, I get it. This shirt has a lot of history, and a couple more holes won't mean anything."

"I wouldn't say that," Botan said with another sly grin.

I chose to ignore her and move on to my next point. "I don't think my wings will fit in that bag. They go down to my feet remember?" My wings twitched under the borrowed shirt for emphasis. "Maybe it would be better if I just stayed in here, and you guys go shopping," I suggested.

Keiko shook her head stubbornly. "You aren't getting out of shopping that easily."

"Keiko's right. We'll figure out how to hide your wings. Just give us a second," Botan said.

"Maybe she could just wear a long jacket," Yukina suggested.

"Great idea! I'll go ask Kazuma and see if we can borrow one of his," Botan said as she started running back to the temple. She returned seconds later with a long red coat. "Here you go," she said as I slipped the coat on. "Perfect fit. Good thing you and Kurama are virtually the same height."

"Yeah, good thing," I muttered with a sigh as I slipped the baseball cap on top of my ears and tied the sweater around my waist.

Keiko frowned. "I thought you said you were going to ask Kazuma for the jacket."

"I ran into Kurama first. Brilliant timing that man has, isn't it?" Botan replied.

Yukina smiled at us again. "Have fun," she said as she disappeared.

"Don't worry, we will," Botan called back as she grabbed my arm. "Ready to go Tsukino-chan?"

What was I supposed to say? 'No, I'm not going because I don't want to cause trouble between you and the detectives'? They would have dragged me away anyways.

I gave them a small nod, and Keiko and Botan proceeded to drag me to a nearby mall where they forced me into many different styles of clothing. Thankfully, none were as revealing as my old uniform that I wore at the bar. After what felt like hours of trying on clothes, the women finally decided I had what I needed, and we started to head back. We stopped at the public washrooms, and I quickly changed into my new clothes so that I wouldn't ruin Kurama's.

We ended up stopping at the food court for dinner since it was too late to eat at the temple. While we ate, we talked about random things. Somehow, our conversation went from the clothes that they had bought me to all the stupid things the detectives had done over the years.

"You should have been there. Yusuke was covered head to toe in plant pollen once Kurama was done with him," Keiko told me through her laughter.

"What did Urameshi-san do to make him react like that?" I asked.

Botan was laughing so hard that tears were coming out of her eyes. "He made a comment about how Kurama looked like a girl as… as well as…" She tried to explain further, but her laughter made it very hard to understand.

Finally Keiko got control over herself and turned to me, her face bright red from laughter. "What about you? Any funny stories to tell?"

When I first met Keiko, I promised myself that I would not get drawn into their circle. I wasn't going to fill my head with hopeless dreams of actually being part of a circle of friends or a team. I was going to keep that promise no matter what. If I didn't, it was only going to mean pain for all of us.

I answered Keiko's question with complete honesty (which was more than I had planned) and shook my head. "I lived by myself in Demon World in a more dangerous part of town so I didn't really have time for relationships of any sort."

Botan nodded in understanding. "Reminds me of my job before I met Yusuke. Every day it was someone new coming in, and once you dropped them off you never saw them again."

"What job was that?- If you don't mind me asking," I quickly added.

"Grim Reaper," Botan replied as she took a sip of her drink.

I stared at her for a full second before shaking my head. "I'm sorry but did you just say what I think you did?"

Botan nodded with a grin. "I'm also known as the Pilot of the River Styx."

I kept staring and suddenly blurted out, "You mean I'm already dead!?"

Botan and Keiko started laughing. "No silly. You're still alive, I'm now a detective as well (more or less), but instead of fighting, I'm a healer," Botan explained.

"And you are?" I asked as I looked over at Keiko before I could control my curiosity. I cursed my cat demon blood at that moment.

She smiled. "Human and married to a detective. I'm not part of team though."

Botan frowned. "That's not true. Anyone who can inspire/force Yusuke to do great things is definitely part of the team."

Keiko and I laughed, and the feeling of unease returned. I was getting in too deep with these women. "Maybe we should go back to the temple now," I suggested.

The other women nodded as they got up from their chairs.

"Yeah, it is getting late," Keiko said.

"I'm amazed that Yusuke hasn't sent out a search party for us yet," Botan commented as we left the mall.

***

When we arrived at the temple, Botan turned to Keiko and I. "Okay team. Our mission is to get into the temple, get to our rooms, and wait for the signal. All without being seen."

Despite myself, I felt drawn into their game. "What's the signal?" I asked.

Keiko grinned. "We like to call it 'topless hot'."

Topless hot? It sounded like some sort of unit of measuring temperature.

Before I could ask any more questions, Botan continued with her plan. "Keiko, you and I will take the clothes. Tsukino-chan, your mission is to get back to your room without being detected. Wait there until the signal gets to you. Once the signal arrives, make an excuse and come to my room. There we will trade off the goods."

She made it sound like we were trading drugs instead of just sneaking into a temple. I nodded all the same. "Okay, one question. Where is your room?"

"It's the last door on the left when you leave the kitchen and go east."

Botan nodded. "Thank you, Yusuke. Now…" She stopped talking with a 'oh damn' look on her face.

Slowly, we all looked up to come face to face with an enraged Urameshi. A failed mission if I ever saw one.

Luckily, before he could start ranting, one of his fellow detectives appeared and put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's alright Yusuke. They were merely getting clothing for Tsukino-san," Kurama explained.

Urameshi glared at him. "They could have at least told us where they were going."

Kurama nodded. "Yes," he turned to us, "they should have."

I knew I was only going to get myself into trouble but what the heck. "We told Genkai-sama and Yukina-san, does that count?" I asked while giving them my cutest and most innocent looking face.

Urameshi glared at me, and I immediately looked like a kitten that had just gotten yelled at.

"Nice try," Botan muttered.

I gave her a small nod in reply.

Since Urameshi wasn't saying anything Kurama spoke up.

"Just warn us next time, alright?"

Keiko, Botan, and I nodded as we started walking towards the temple. "It won't happen again," Botan assured them.

"We'll just go drop off these clothes in Tsukino-chan's room," Keiko said.

As soon as we were through the temple's door, we ran for my room. When we got there Botan slammed the door shut. Keiko and I sank to the floor from exhaustion. (Those stairs were murder to run up, and Urameshi was really scary when he was mad.)

For a moment, everything was silent. Then, for some unknown reason, I started to quietly laugh. Keiko started to chuckle, and finally, Botan started outright laughing. We were still laughing like that when Yukina entered the room.

"How did the mission go?" she asked.

"Which one?" I asked before I could stop myself. "Getting the clothes, or getting back?"

"Both," she replied with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

"Getting clothes: success," Botan said with a thumb up.

"Getting back: failed," Keiko replied with a mock serious face and a thumb down.

That caused us all to start laughing again.

"We didn't even get to the stairs before Yusuke showed up," Botan laughed.

Yukina smiled even wider as she got up. "I've got to go help Genkai with cleaning. I'll talk to you later."

Botan and Keiko also stood up. "We'll let you unpack," Botan said.

"See you tomorrow," Keiko added.

I nodded and smiled. Once the door closed, though, my smile disappeared. What the heck was I doing? I promised myself I wouldn't get involved with friendships with the detectives and their friends. It was only going to mean disaster. And yet, there I was, quickly making friends with Botan, Keiko, and Yukina. But it was impossible not to be friendly with them.

Botan was almost so happy and friendly that it was hard not to be so around her. Keiko was the same way, only she had this way to make you say things that you rather you hadn't. And Yukina, the lady was so sweet; it was like nothing could go wrong around her.

I realized that I had to get out of there. Fast. I had to get out of there before I found myself in too deep. But then again… maybe it was already too late.

* * *

**Any suggestions for what could happen next? Please share them.**

**A/N: Well? What did you think? Personally I think that things are feeling a bit rushed so I'm trying to stretch it out. And I told you that you did vote for something. Kurama did save her (ish). Also to everyone, Shiro means white, and Kurama does get mad if you read the manga. And how am I doing without a beta? I hope the chapter wasn't too messy.**

**I hoped you all enjoyed the chapter. I'll try to update soon. Thanks for reading and please review.**

**-D101**


	5. Impending Doom

_Disclaimer: Dude! I just realized that I own a Hell of a lot more stuff that I had thought! I own the plot, Stato, Oshiro, Tsukino, the plot, and the little poems in the page breaks! I'm such a baka! Unfortunately, though, I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho. In fact, I only own two mangas of it at the current time… Note to Self: Get more manga!_

* * *

_Recap:_ Not needed due to Kurama recounting it all, and I just updated recently. If you have forgotten already, I'm hurt.

* * *

**Say It If It's Worth Saving Me  
****Chapter Five  
****Strengthening Flames Part 1: The Attack**

Day Ten

The morning of the tenth day of our mission I am awaken by a loud cry of 'what?' and Yusuke practically breaking down the door while entering my room.

"Kurama! Is it true!?" he demands to know.

I slowly raise myself from my comfortable bed and give Yusuke a tired and confused look. "Is what true?" I reply.

"That the demon knows!"

I nod. "She either overheard us, or she figured out our plan."

"How could she figure it out!?"

"Yusuke, please calm down. All you are doing right now is confirming her suspicions."

He frowns and sits down on the chair by the desk in my room. I remove my blankets and sit on the bed so that we are facing each other. I'm just about to explain when Kazuma rushes into the room.

"I heard Yusuke yelling. Is Keiko okay?" he asks.

Yusuke and I nod. "She's fine at the moment," Yusuke says in a tone that suggests impending doom.

"So what was all that yelling about?"

I motion for Kazuma to sit as well before I explain. "Tsukino-san knows about our plan."

"How did she find out!?"

"Kazuma. Quiet," I reply as Yusuke says:

"Fox-Boy was just about to explain."

I sigh. "Some demons have very sensitive hearing. She may be one of these, and if she is, she could have easily overheard us at anytime." Both men nod and I continue. "If she doesn't have sensitive hearing, she could have easily figured it out due to our behaviour."

"What do you mean 'our behaviour'?" Yusuke asks.

"Think of this from her perspective. She knows that spirit detectives kill demons, and that she hasn't been killed. What possible reason would we have for doing that-"

"Unless to get information out of her," Kazuma finishes for me.

I nod.

"So now what?" Yusuke demands to know.

Mentally, I prepare myself for Yusuke's imminent rage. "We have no choice but to resort to Plan B while acting as if we are still implementing Plan A."

"Hell no! I'm not leaving Keiko alone with that thing!" Yusuke shouts.

Kazuma speaks before I am able to. "Cool it Urameshi," Kazuma uses his last name to try to calm him down. "Even if Keiko is alone with her, we would know if the demon was going to attack."

I nod. "Kazuma's right. Demons give off a vibe of bloodlust when they kill. We would sense that before anything happened."

"What about Chu?" Yusuke argues.

Neither Kazuma nor I can think up anything to say to that so instead we tried to convince Yusuke another way.

"What if we have Hiei follow them?" Kazuma asks after a moment.

"Would Hiei be willing to follow the girls around?" Yusuke replies with sarcasm.

Once more we come up against a brick wall.

"Yusuke, I'm sure that Keiko would be perfectly safe with Tsukino-san. But if you want us to, we can ask the ladies to not leave one another alone with Tsukino-san. Alright?" I ask.

Yusuke frowns at me but mutters, "Fine." Then he gives me a hard look as he says, "But if anything happens to Keiko or any of the other girls, I'm holding you responsible."

I nod. "I would expect no less."

Yusuke nods before leaving Kazuma and me alone in my room.

"He is really protective of Keiko, isn't he?" Kazuma says.

I stand up and grab some clothes. "It's to be expected. This is, after all, his first child."

"Do all demons get this way over their wives when they are expecting?" Kazuma asked.

I shrug. "Couldn't tell you. I think its more personality based though. Yusuke is probably just paranoid because of all the demons we've fought."

Kazuma nods as he stands up. "Well, I'll see you at breakfast."

Once Kazuma leaves my room, I get dress and head to breakfast. I'm slightly surprised to see that Tsukino isn't there, but I don't ask where she is. After all, she is probably just sleeping in. I hope that her injuries have healed though.

Kazuma also notices that Tsukino isn't present and takes that opportunity to inform the ladies of our new plan. They dislike it, but believe it is a better plan than the original. Reluctantly, they agree to aid us.

After breakfast, we all part and go our own ways, only to reunite at lunch. Tsukino doesn't appear at lunch either, and I become curious. Where could she be?

I ask Yukina about it, and she tells me that Keiko had brought Tsukino food and for some reason the demon was refusing to leave her room. I wonder offhand whether if has to do with the incident at the lake.

On my way to the forest to train, I notice Keiko on her way to Tsukino's room with a bundle of clothing in her arms. I walk over to her and ask what she is doing. She explains that she is bringing some clothes to Tsukino. I nod my head at this and suggest that, should Tsukino decline her offer, she and one of the other women should go shopping with Tsukino at the mall.

"Is this some sort of plan to get information out of her?" Keiko asks, eyeing me.

I shake my head. "If you get some information, it is merely a bonus. I'm just suggesting the trip to the mall so that Tsukino may get some more clothing."

Keiko nods and then continues on her way, leaving me to continue on mine.

After training for a few hours, I return to the house to find Yusuke about to explode at the women who had just come back from shopping. Deciding to help them out, I walk over and attempt to calm the man. With a joint effort from the women, Yusuke calms down and allows the women to make a run for it.

Once the women are out of sight and hearing range, I say to Yusuke, "Don't worry. They know what they are doing."

Yusuke sighs. "I can't help but be worried. After everything we've faced, the most important thing I've learnt is to expect the unexpected and that in this world, it's the ones closest to you who get harmed in the crossfire."

I nod. "But in each of those battles all of us came out alive. If things should become negative this time, we will all survive just as we always have," I reply wisely.

Yusuke gives me a sad look. "There's a first for everything Kurama," he says before he walks off.

I remain standing there for a second before walking towards the kitchen to acquire some dinner. To be frank, I'm slightly shocked by the look in Yusuke's eyes. It was the same look I see every day when I looked in the mirror. The look of wisdom learned from horrible and painful experiences.

***

After filling myself, I go in search of the women. I find Botan first and ask her how their trip to the mall was. She gives me her Cheshire cat grin as she informs me.

"We got Tsukino-chan lots of clothing. Then we stopped at the food court where Keiko and I told her about the pollen incident and the many other funny things you and the other men have done over the years," she tells me.

I ignore the shiver that runs down my spine at the thought of what blackmail Tsukino now has. "Did you learn anything of importance?"

Botan shook her head. "Really Kurama, I'm surprised at you. I would have thought that you would know that trust doesn't appear overnight."

I nod. "Just please try to remember the mission and don't get attached," I caution her. "We still don't know why she is here or what she is capable of."

Botan looks a bit peeved as she replies, "You know, you sound just like Yusuke."

I sigh and start to walk to my room. "Just be careful."

She turns and faces me. "I should be the one telling **you** that."

I turn to face her as well. "Why?" I ask.

She gives me that grin again as she laughs. "Oh you know."

Before I can question her further, she makes an excuse about going to help Yukina with something and runs off. Unsure of what else to do, I return to my room to turn in for the night.

As I put on my pyjamas, I silently wonder if we would be able to complete the mission in three days.

We only have that long before we all return to the other side of our lives. Kuwabara is to be teaching at his old junior high school. Yusuke is returning to his ramen restaurant with Keiko. Hiei is returning to patrolling the border between Demon World and Human World. And I'm on my way back to my step-father's company.

If we don't have this case done before we leave, it will be difficult to complete since we would be juggling our other jobs as well.

Three days. I doubt it is enough time.

As I lay on my bed, waiting for sleep, I try to come up with some sort of idea of what we could do if three days wasn't enough time. Before I can, I fall to sleep's powers.

* * *

_Black Page, Black Page  
__Slowly Turning Red_

* * *

The Final Attack on the Temple

I fell asleep almost instantly and didn't wake up for many hours. When I did, it was not a nice experience.

I had awakened because I had heard something crackling like logs did in a fire. Just as that thought passed through my head, my nose caught the scent of smoke. Mind dulled from sleep, I slowly wondered why something was burning. Just as slow as my mind was working, I made my way over to my door. I opened it, and at once, I started coughing as thick black smoke rushed into my room.

Ducking under the smoke, I walked out of my room and towards the rooms where I still heard breathing. I was almost at the door to such a room when I caught the scent of something I had never smelt before. The next second, the hallway burst into angry orange flames.

Luckily, before the flames reached me, the door behind me opened, and someone pulled me into the room. The person, who had just saved me, quickly slapped his door shut and opened his window. At this time I realized, it was Kuwabara.

"That should buy us some time," he said as he started to climb out the window.

"Wait! What about the others!?" I asked him.

He gave me a confused look as if it was obvious. "We'll warn them once we're outside."

"How?"

"Throwing rocks through their windows usually works," Kuwabara replied.

I didn't stop to wonder if they did this often. Instead, I followed him through the window. Once outside Kuwabara turned to me.

"Can you fly with those?" he asked, surprisingly calm.

I nodded.

"I want you to fly over to the other side of the temple, the side where your room is, and warn everyone on that side. I'll warn everyone over here."

Without even giving a reply, I started running and took off into the air. Seconds later, I landed on the ground and ran towards the closest room where I heard breathing. The flames were starting to give off heat as the wood started to burn so I had to act fast.

Deciding not to waste time throwing rocks, I entered through the window. At once, I noticed I was in Yukina's room. Not wasting a second, I shook the woman awake. Once she was, I directed her to the window, and we climbed out before I started running off leaving Yukina to follow.

"Kuwabara-san is waking everyone on the other side. Who else is on this side?" I asked as I ran.

"Genkai, Keiko, and Yusuke," Yukina replied as she led the way to the next room.

We came to a stop. As I opened the window, I explained my plan. "You go on to the next room. I'll get the people in here."

Yukina nodded and ran off to the next room.

I climbed through the window as fast as I could and looked around. The room was already covered in flames, and I shielded my face from the heat with my sleeve. No one was in there. I dimly felt panic when I heard a voice outside the door.

Without thinking, I opened the door and entered the burning hallway. I kept my head low as I ran through the flames. After a few precious seconds, I found the owner of the voice. Yusuke was trapped under a fallen support for the roof, and Keiko was unconscious.

"Urameshi-san," I called as I rushed over.

He looked around for a second before he saw me. When he did, he pointed to Keiko. "Get her out of here and fast," he ordered.

I nodded and quickly grabbed Keiko. Then I ran into one of the bedrooms and jumped through the window. I ended up crashing into Botan who was running down the side of the house. And once again I acted without thought. I handed her Keiko. "I'll be right back," I said as I went through the window again.

I ran to where Urameshi lay trapped and looked around for something to move the column with.

"What the hell are you doing?" Urameshi demanded to know.

"What does it look like?" I hissed back. I disliked fire just as much as I was afraid of the water, so I was in a less than happy mood.

"You'd better get out of here," Urameshi shouted over the cracking of the wood.

I ignored him and kept looking. Within seconds, I found what I needed. I grabbed a statue that was in the hallway and a slightly burning piece of wood. I arranged them so that they created a lever underneath the column. "I'm going to push down on this and force the column up, but I'm only going to be able to keep it up for a few seconds. Will that be enough time for you to get out?" I asked.

Another support for the roof collapsed causing sparks to jump. I hid my eyes from the sparks and tried to concentrate on what I was doing.

"Stop being noble and just go!" Urameshi urged me.

"Who's being noble!?" I asked as I walked over to the lever, and pushed down on it. The column rose barely, but it was enough for Urameshi to get out from underneath it.

Once he was out, we raced for the only bedroom that wasn't blocked, and dove out the window. We slid to a stop metres away from the building. Just seconds after we got out, the burning part of the building collapsed.

Slowly, I rose to my feet and realized I was shaking all over. Urameshi stood beside me.

"I hope everyone got out alright," he said.

I nodded and continued to stare towards the flames. After a moment, I dimly heard people run over to Urameshi and me, but I didn't really notice. I was too busy staring over the flames and into a face I had learned to hate and fear.

Stato gave me a grin before moving his hands into the same shape as Urameshi did when using his Spirit Gun. He pointed to me and muttered, "Next time," before he disappeared into the fire. Even after he had gone, I continued to stare into the flames while feeling my knees get weaker and weaker.

The exhaustion hit me just as someone put their hand on my shoulder and asked if I was all right. At that moment, I fell back against them, and my mind fell into the black void.

* * *

_Black Page, Black Page  
__A Fire Burning In My Head_

* * *

Day Eleven

Tsukino didn't awake until noon. During the time that she was asleep, Genkai moved us all to rooms on the unburned side of the temple and ordered us to go to sleep. It was difficult at first, but I finally managed to. When I awoke, I went to find the other detectives.

I found them in the kitchen discussing the fire.

"That fire wasn't accidental," Hiei said as I entered. "There was some sort of liquid all over the walls that caused the fire to spread much faster than it should have."

"But who would want to burn down Genkai's temple?" Kazuma asked.

Hiei shrugged and fell silent as I sat down at the table.

"In any case, we all made it out with our lives," I said.

"Barely. The demon girl seems like she's gone into a coma," Hiei stated.

Yusuke shook his head. "I still don't get it though."

We all turned to look at him.

"Don't get what, Yusuke?" I asked.

"Why she came back," he answered. "I got trapped under some supports for the roof, and Keiko was unconscious. When Tsukino-san showed up, I told her to get Keiko out of there. She took Keiko and disappeared and then reappeared to help me get out before the temple collapsed."

"Why didn't you just blast yourself out?" Kazuma asked.

Yusuke glared at him. "And have the whole temple collapse on Keiko and me? No thanks."

"Perhaps she just didn't like the idea of leaving someone to die," I suggested.

"Yeah. After all, not all demons are evil," Kazuma added.

Yusuke shook his head. "I know that. What I'm saying is I don't understand why she didn't just tell one of you to get me."

"Maybe she didn't want to waste time looking for us," Kazuma suggested.

"You can always ask her when she wakes up," I pointed out.

"If she wakes up," Hiei added, and I glared at him.

"So back to the mission," I stated in an effort to change the conversation. "We only have two days before we leave to go back to the other side of our lives. What are we going to do about the mission?"

Yusuke shrugged. "We could just let Genkai take care of her and have Yukina get information from her," he suggested half-heartedly.

"Uh… Yusuke, did you forget that Yukina is staying with me?" Kazuma asked.

"Oh yeah…"

"In any case, I don't think it's safe here for her anymore." I quickly explained about the creatures that had attacked Tsukino at the lake. When I finished, Kazuma spoke.

"Do you think the fire was another attempt to get at her?"

I shrugged. "It is a possibility."

"Maybe she can stay with one of us," Yusuke suggested. "Too bad we aren't in school anymore or we could just pass her off as a new student and keep an eye on her that way."

I decided not to point out that Tsukino appeared too old to be in school and the chances of Yusuke being at the school to look after her would have been slim.

Suddenly, Yusuke's eyes lit up with an idea. "Hey, Kazuma. You're a teacher right?"

Kazuma stared at him. "Yeah so?"

Yusuke grinned. "She can just go to your school, and you can keep an eye on her."

Kazuma crossed his arms. "Get real, Yusuke. She's too old to be in school. And besides, I doubt she knows all the stuff she needs in order to pass the entrance exam. Maybe she could work at your restaurant."

"Or she could work for Kurama's company," Yusuke pointed out.

"You still haven't given up on Plan A, have you?" I asked.

Yusuke was about to reply when Botan rushed into the room.

"She's awake!" she announced.

* * *

**Vote! Who should she stay with? It doesn't matter to me because she will run into Kurama no matter what. So who do **you** want her to stay with?**

**A/N: Yay! Action! And I know that Kurama's last entry was all in past tense. Originally I was going to continue and switch it back to present, but I'm too tired now, and I like the ending where it is.**

**Anyways, please review and vote.**

**-D101**


	6. Rabid Wolves

_Disclaimer: How I wished I owned Yu Yu Hakusho but alas, I do not. What I am able to call my own are Stato, Oshiro, Tsukino, the plot, and the poem in the page breaks. _

* * *

_Recap:_ Big fire happens and half the temple is destroyed. The detectives only have two days before they return to the other side of their lives. Detectives still have no idea what is going on with Tsukino, but they now suspect that something is attacking her. Meanwhile, Tsukino does not know that the detectives are using Plan B (using the girls to get information from her), instead of Plan A (using Kurama to get information out of her). At this moment, Tsukino has just woken up from blacking out after the fire, and the detectives are anxious to talk to her.

* * *

**Say It If It's Worth Saving Me  
****Chapter Six  
****Strengthening Flames Part 2: The Aftermath**

Day Eleven

Botan stops us before we enter the hallway. "She's not feeling very well and is slightly dazed so don't crowd her," she tells us. "Only enter in twos or threes. Kurama, Yusuke, I think it would be a good idea for you to go in first."

Yusuke and I nod before we walk down to Tsukino's room. When we enter, Tsukino is shivering like mad, and for a second, she seems not to recognize us. She stares at us with the eyes of a kitten who was just meeting its new family after being ripped away from its mother. The look only lasts a second though, and recognition enters her eyes.

"Hello Urameshi-san, Kurama-san."

We reply to her greeting as we sit down.

"How are you feeling?" I ask.

She shrugs. "Been better, been worse. What about you guys?"

"We are fine," I reply.

She nods. "That's good. Did everyone make it out okay?"

Yusuke nods. "And thanks to Yukina, only half of the temple burned."

She frowns. "How did she do that?"

"Yukina is an ice maiden," I explain.

Tsukino looks at us in amazement. "Wow… you think you know a girl."

Yusuke and I nod, and we fall into silence. Sensing that I'm making things difficult, I excuse myself from the room. Though I do not try to, I overhear a bit of Yusuke's and Tsukino's conversation as I walk down the hall.

I can't help but think that perhaps Yusuke is a better choice for Plan A. Perhaps we should create a Plan C in which Yusuke tries to befriend her. It would certainly work better than Plan A.

I chuckle to myself as I walk.

Perhaps this mission isn't as doomed as I had thought, but it would be nice to have some more information. Maybe I'll ask Hiei to check on Koenma when I see him. It we are lucky Koenma will have some specific information for us.

I'm about to enter the kitchen where the other detectives are, when Botan appears at my side.

"So how did it go?" she asks.

I shrug. "She still doesn't trust me but is warming up to Yusuke. Perhaps if we keep acting like I'm the one trying to get information from her, everyone else will gain her trust, and we can gain the information that way."

Botan nods and then pulls out a little notebook that I recognize as my own. She hands it to me. "You really need to hold onto your stuff better, Kurama. We can't have Tsukino finding this and learning all about the mission."

"Where did you find this?" I ask. I could have sworn I had left it in my room when the fire happened. I thought it had been destroyed.

"Over on the unburned side of the temple," Botan explains.

I frown. This doesn't make any sense, but I nod, and Botan goes on her way. After she leaves I open my notebook, curious to see the damage the fire may have caused. To my complete surprise, the book is completely unharmed. I put the book in my pocket and enter the kitchen to see Kuwabara and Hiei fighting over whether Hiei should tell Yukina about his relation to her. I don't even bother to stop the fight. Instead, I sit down and contemplate about the state of my case book.

I know I had left the book in my room so how did it come to be over on the other side of the temple? Did someone move it? If someone did, did this person read it? And why did this person take my case book in the first place?

So many questions with hardly any answers pile on top of the ones I already have of the case. Hopefully they will all be answered when we have the information we need from Tsukino. But the question is, what information **do **we need?

* * *

_White Page, White Page  
__Black Page, Black Page_

* * *

A Run In With Wolves

Urameshi and I sat in silence for a few moments after Kurama left since I couldn't think of anything to say, and Urameshi seemed like he didn't want to talk. Suddenly, out of the blue, Urameshi opened his mouth.

"Why did you come back?"

I was shocked by Urameshi's comment, but I managed to reply. "Don't really know. I guess I was acting on instinct." Urameshi still looked confused so I continued. "It's a bat demon thing. Bats are actually quite sociable and really depend on our colonies. I guess my bat demon blood just thought it wouldn't be right to let a father die before he even met his child."

He nodded and slowly said, "Well… Thanks then."

I nodded back. "You're welcome… So how is Keiko-san, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Keiko's doing fine."

"That's good. And the baby?" My eyes widened, and I quickly covered my mouth. _Where the hell did that come from!? Urameshi is going to think I was crazy!_ I silently asked myself. "Sorry! Sorry! I shouldn't have asked," I quickly said.

Urameshi started laughing, and I knew I was done. _He's going to kill me, and then he's going to feed me to his spirit beast. No wait, that's not right. He's going to drown me, then kill me, and then feed me to his army of spirit beasts. And Botan is going to take my soul to Hell where all the other mixed-breeds are. I knew she was too nice to be trusted! It was all some sort of plot. Oh man. I'm going to die. I'm so going to die,_ I had thought.

Finally Urameshi stopped laughing. "The baby's fine," he replied. "I can't say the same for you though."

_Totally going to die, _I thought.

"You look like someone just walked in on you going **it**." He started laughing again while I stared at him in confusion.

Urameshi also seemed confused, and he stopped laughed after a second. "Hey you okay? Usually I get slapped for that."

I nodded. "I just thought you were going to kill me, so when you didn't, I kinda went into shock." I covered my mouth again. _Curse my big mouth and stupid inbred naivety thinking that if someone was honest with you, you could trust them_, I thought. (Cats are very naïve you know. Most of us think that anyone who feeds us can't possibly be evil.)

Urameshi stared at me, and started laughing again. "You really thought we would kill a demon as harmless as you?" he asked.

"You didn't want to leave Keiko-san alone with me," I countered.

Urameshi frowned. "So I got a bit paranoid, what's your point?"

I glared at him. "You scared the hell out of me! I kept thinking you were going to kill me if I said something wrong."

"Didn't Kurama explain the whole 'only kill demons who cause trouble' thing?" Botan asked as she entered the room causing Urameshi to jump. I heard her coming so I wasn't startled.

"Don't do that Botan!" he shouted causing me to wince at the loud noise. "I told you before! Give me a warning or something! One of these days I'm going to have a heart attack and die!"

"I seriously doubt a heart attack could do you in, Yusuke," Botan said as she sat down. "Keiko wants to see you."

Urameshi got up and walked to the door. "Better go see what she wants. See you around, Tsukino-san."

I waved. "See ya, Urameshi-san."

After Urameshi left the room Botan turned to me. "Yusuke seems to trust you more now."

I nodded. "Is he always happy or scary?"

Botan smiled. "It all depends who you are."

"So he'll be less scary and more nice in the future?"

Botan nodded before changing the subject. "So Kurama didn't explain the whole killing demon thing?"

"I'm supposed to trust the detective who is trying to get information out of me?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

Botan gave me a surprised look. "How do you know that he's trying to get information out of you? Did you hear anything?"

I shook my head. "Usually my hearing can pick up anything for miles, but for some reason, it's limited here. I can hear someone talking, even be able to tell who it is, but I can't make out their words unless I'm in the same room."

"So you didn't hear anything then?"

I shook my head. "Nothing."

"Then why do you think Kurama is trying to get information out of you?"

I crossed my arms. "One, he isn't very subtle about it. And two, what other reasons would the detectives have for keeping me here?"

"Maybe they are trying to figure out a way to get you back to Demon World?" Botan asked lamely.

I shook my head. "I know that the barrier between Demon World and Human World is gone, Botan-san. I'm not** that** out of touch."

"Then why didn't you know that Spirit Detectives only kill harmful demons?"

My tail twitched when I realized the trap I had just stumbled into. I sighed. "I guess I just got some faulty information. But still, Kurama-san wasn't very subtle when he was asking questions. His motives were perfectly obvious."

"Maybe that's just what he wanted you to think," Botan replied with a grin worthy of a cat. "Maybe he wanted you to think that he was getting information for the team when he was really just curious about you. You know how foxes are."

I shook my head. "I've never met a fox before, Botan-san. And besides, in any case, he is still trying to get information from me."

Botan chuckled. "Believe whatever you want." She grabbed my hand. "Come on, it's time for lunch."

I nodded and followed her out of the room. On the way to the dinning room, I felt slightly light-headed but ignored it. I wasn't fainting or dieing so it wasn't a big deal.

At lunch I saw for myself that everyone was alive and well. Keiko and Yukina had a few burns on them, but they were both laughing at something Kuwabara had said. I ended up sitting beside Yukina and Botan again and listened to them chat.

"It was a good thing that Kazuma and Tsukino-chan realized a fire was happening when they did," Yukina said.

That suddenly caused me to remember something. "Kuwabara-san, how did you know about the fire?" I asked him.

He grinned. "I have a sixth sense," he announced. "What about you?"

I shrugged. "I just heard something weird and realized it was a fire when I opened my door."

"Speaking of the fire," Botan cut in, "it looks like we all have to go shopping again because of it."

You could just tell how excited everyone was.

"Let's go right after lunch," Keiko suggested, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Can't we put it off for a little while?" Urameshi whined.

"Don't be silly," Botan cut in. "You and Keiko have lots of shopping to do."

"Botan's right. We have to get stuff for the baby," Keiko added.

The look on the detectives face was priceless, and I couldn't help but join in the laughter.

"But we just bought a room full of stuff!" Urameshi shouted.

"Don't worry Yusuke. I'm sure shopping with Keiko for baby items can't be that bad," Kurama told him.

Urameshi seemed to brighten at that. "Okay then Fox-boy. You get to go shopping with her."

Kurama didn't seem to be expecting that. Luckily for him, Botan grabbed his arm. "Sorry Yusuke. Kurama is going to be busy helping me and Tsukino-chan since Hiei won't be coming with us."

Hiei didn't make any comment other than "Hn."

"Right Tsukino-chan?" Botan asked as she turned to me.

"Uh… How about we pick who is helping who when we are ready to leave?" I asked.

Kurama nodded. "Let's meet back here in about ten minutes. That should be plenty of time to gather what we need."

We all agreed and split up. Ten minutes later, a hyperactive Botan was dragging me down the hallway.

"Botan-san! Slow down! It's not like if they leave us behind we are stranded."

"Kurama brought his car though," she whined. "What would you rather be doing? Sitting in a van listening to Keiko and Yusuke fight, sitting in a bus with people you don't know, or in a hot car with a hot guy?"

"What is a car?" I asked.

Botan unexpectedly stopped causing me to crash into her. She turned around and stared. "You have no idea what a car is?"

I shook my head. "I've never been out of Demon World before, and we don't really have any need to have moving boxes of metal transport us."

Botan gave me a weak smile. "Oh yes. I had forgotten about that. Well remember that bus- box- we got on before that took us to the mall?"

I nodded.

"It's like that only smaller," Botan explained as we started running again.

"And it is considered 'hot'?"

She nodded as she slapped a cap on my head. "Until we figure out how to hide your ears, tail, and wings, we'll have to rely on the good old methods."

We ran into the dinning room, and luckily, everyone was still there.

Kurama smiled at us as we entered. "Now that everyone is here, who is going to be helping who?"

"I'll help my darling Yukina," Kuwabara announced to the world.

Yukina smiled and turned to Genkai. "Are you coming?" she asked the old master.

Genkai shook her head. "I'll stay behind and start on the repairs. Some of your demon pals will be dropping by to help."

"And they would be?" Urameshi asked.

Genkai gave him a smirk. "If you used your head you would know, dimwit."

Urameshi was just about to say something about that when Genkai added, "You'll see if you survive shopping with Keiko. Think of it as training, if it helps."

Kurama continued speaking. "So Kazuma and Yukina-"

Keiko grabbed her mate's arm. "Yusuke and me."

"No way! We already agreed that Kurama was helping you," Yusuke stubbornly said.

"Yusuke you really need to clean out your ears," Botan commented as she walked over to Kurama and leaned on his shoulder. "Kurama is helping Tsukino-chan and me, right?" She turned to me expectantly.

"Uh… he can help you. I'll be fine on my own," I replied.

Urameshi glared at Botan, but his threatening stare turned into one of fear as Keiko grabbed the back of his collar and started dragging him to the huge stairs at the front of the temple. Yukina and Kuwabara walked right after them, leaving Botan, Kurama, and me in the temple since Hiei had disappeared, and Genkai had left the room.

Suddenly, Kurama appeared at my side with Botan. "Shall we?" he asked with a charming smile as he offered me his other arm.

I refused to take hold of his arm and instead, followed him and Botan to his car. It was okay, I guess. It didn't have a roof like most of the vehicles did, and it was as red as his hair.

I slipped into the back beside Botan as Kurama got into the driver's seat.

He was just about to pull out onto the road when he suddenly remembered something. He turned to me. "Be sure to keep a hand on your hat. The wind will blow it off if you don't."

I nodded, and then he pulled out onto the road.

Within a few moments, we were back at the mall. Botan started acting even more hyperactive and dragged me up and down the halls leaving Kurama to follow. Finally, we came to a store she liked, and she dragged me in there. Within seconds, I was being forced into many different kinds of clothing, most I would have never worn. She also forced me to show them to Kurama who seemed to sense my inner unease. I couldn't tell if he was smiling in sympathy for me, or amusement at my despair.

Botan also joined in on the modelling so that made me feel better. It also helped that once we had picked out some clothing, she forced Kurama into showing off as well. As I watched him display one outfit, I wondered if he was a model or something as well as a detective. He seemed used to showing off, and I had the suspicion that he was secretly enjoying it. I knew the female sales clerks were.

Finally, Kurama paid for our new clothing, for some reason he insisted, and then we went off to the food court to meet the others. On the way, Botan and I stopped at the washrooms to change into one of our new outfits. When we came out, we saw Kurama surrounded by a group of girls.

"Hiya handsome," one girl was saying. "Are you here all alone?"

Kurama seemed to be feeling cornered. "I'm just waiting for some of my friends," he answered

"Wasn't very nice of them to leave such a cute guy all alone," another girl said.

Botan sighed when she saw the girls. "He should have just kept his hair long and let people think he was a girl," she muttered before she said to me, "Come on. We better save him."

I gave her a doubtful look. "Does he honestly need our help?"

Botan nodded.

I stared at her. "Kurama-san, the spirit detective who faces **demons** on a regular bases, needs **our** help to get rid of a few **human** girls?"

Botan nodded again. "The problem with that 'perfect' man is he can't directly reject them. He has to be a gentleman about it, and because of that, they just don't understand that he isn't interested. It's even worse now that he cut his hair because everyone can tell that he is a guy."

"Why don't you pretend to be his girlfriend or something then?"

Botan laughed nervously. "Well it's a funny story."

"You chickened out," I said plainly.

"Those girls are really scary! They are like rabid wolves around him!" Botan justified.

"Sure, I believe you," I said. _Nothing could have been as scary as that night when I first came here_, I thought to myself as I hid a shiver going down my spine.

Suddenly, Botan brightened. "I have an idea! If you don't believe me about how evil those girls are, why don't you try to be Kurama's girlfriend?"

My eyes widened. "What?! No way!"

Botan grabbed my shoulders and started pushing me towards the group.

"Why do I have to do it?" I whined.

"One, because you don't believe me. Two, because it was your idea. And three, because I said so."

I sat down on the ground and crossed my arms. "I'm not doing it."

Botan sighed. "I didn't want it to come to this, but," she leaned down and whispered in my ear, "if you don't go, I will personally tell Kurama that you have a crush on him."

I shrugged her off. "Like that matters. Why would I have a crush on a guy who is just trying to get information out of me?" I told her. "I don't have a crush on him."

Botan pulled out a camera and waved it in my face. "A little digital birdie says otherwise." She showed me a video of when Kurama was modelling clothes, and low and behold there was a blush on my face.

"What the hell?! I wasn't blushing there! Give me that camera!" I leaped at Botan to get the camera, but she held it out of my reach.

Botan nodded. "Yes you were. You can't argue with photo proof. Now go help your crush."

Before I could set her straight, Botan pushed me into the view of Kurama and the 'rabid wolves'. I vowed to get Botan back for that as I walked towards the group.

"You know what ladies," one wolf was saying to the pack. "I think we should kidnap this hottie for the next hour for revenge against those horrible people who abandoned him."

"Now you really don't have to do that for me. I'm sure they are coming any second now," Kurama said in a desperate way. I almost pitied the guy; he actually looked scared.

"Don't worry. It's only for an hour- unless you want to stay longer." A wolf winked at him suggestively, and Kurama gulped.

"Really, it isn't necessary for you ladies to go to all this trouble."

"It's no trouble at all," one girl said as she ran a hand threw his hair close to his ear.

Not really sure what I was doing, I walked up. "Sorry, I took so long," I said to Kurama. I smiled sweetly at the pack of wolves. "Thanks for keeping him company, but we have to go now. Right Kurama?" I didn't add any suffixes to his name so that the girls would think we were close.

He quickly nodded and grabbed my arm. "Nice talking to you girls," he said over his shoulder.

"Hang on."

Both Kurama and I stopped, which, in retreorespect, was a very stupid idea. We both turned to face the speaker.

"Just who are you?" A wolf asked me.

Over the girl's loud voice, I could hear Botan hissing, 'Run.'

Unfortunately, my cat demon blood was curious about what had managed to scare the Grim Reaper so badly so I stood my ground. I smiled at the girl again. "Who me?"

She nodded, and my grin grew wider.

"I'm just his girlfriend." At that moment, my body acted on autopilot, and I kissed him on the cheek.

All the girls seemed to turn to stone at that. Luckily, Kurama didn't seem too shocked. He just grabbed my hand and led me away.

Once we were out of eye sight though, I quickly pulled my hand out of his. Botan showed up at that moment as well. Before anyone could say anything, I informed them that I was going back to the washroom because I had left a bag there.

Both of them nodded, and I went to the washroom. Once I got there, I spat into the sink. "What the hell did I just do?" I quietly asked myself. "Why the hell did I do that?" A thought suddenly hit me. "Oh damn. Please tell me it's not that again."

"Tsukino-chan? You okay?" Botan asked as she entered the room. "You ran off so fast that I thought something had happened."

I shook my head. "No. I'm fine. Don't worry."

Botan didn't seem to want to drop the subject so I changed it. "You sure Kurama-san is going to be okay by himself?"

"I left him with the gang. And besides," she grinned at me, "I'm sure those girls will leave him alone after that performance."

I nodded. "I'll keep that in mind." I walked towards the door. "Now let's get some food."

Botan smiled again and repeated me. "To food!" she said causing us to both start laughing. Behind her laughter though, I heard sound of unease. I couldn't help but feel that she hadn't forgotten about my running off.

* * *

_This chapter is dedicated to Kaori Minamino for giving me an idea. Also I wish to give credit to "Switch" by Cybra (Story I.D. 2805435) for giving me the idea to have the rabid fan girls try to kidnap Kurama._

**Voting results, it's a tie between Yusuke/Keiko (2) and Kurama (2). This is going to be fun.**

**A/N: Done another chapter. And I'm sorry if Yusuke is OOC. I'm having trouble with his character. I blame it on Keiko being pregnant. And does it appear as if I'm rushing things with Kurama's and Tsukino's relationship? If I am, PLEASE TELL ME SO I CAN SLOW DOWN!**

**Other than that, thanks for reading and please review,**

**-D101**


	7. Making Plans

_Disclaimer__: I'm grateful to my readers/reviewers. They're so smart. Unlike some other people (coughlawyerscough) they know that I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho but they don't turn me over to the government. And the readers also know that I only own Oshiro, Stato, Tsukino, the plot and the poems in the page breaks._

* * *

_Recap:_ Kurama explains all later on.

* * *

**Say It If It's Worth Saving Me  
****Chapter Seven  
****Making Plans**

Day Twelve

"Well Kurama, any ideas?" Yusuke asks me as he sits down beside me.

Currently, all the detectives (Botan included) are sitting in the dinning room away from distractions. One more day before we return to the other side of our lives. One last day to figure out what information Koenma wants without having to dodge our other responsibilities. One last day.

"We all agree that there is no possible way we can obtain any information from her in one day unless by force or," I look over at Hiei, "by trespassing on her mind."

Hiei scoffs. "It wouldn't matter. I wouldn't be able to find anything unless I knew what we were looking for. Without concentration, one thought could easily sidetrack me."

"And we can't force the information out of her either if we don't know what questions to ask," Kazuma adds.

"In other words, it isn't possible to complete this mission in one day," Botan concludes.

I nod. "So we are left with only one option, one of us will have to bring Tsukino back with us."

"You said that already," Yusuke tells me.

"I was just repeating it for Botan who wasn't at our last meeting."

"So what did you guys come up with?" she asked.

"Yusuke thought that having Tsukino go to my school as a student would be a good idea. But I pointed out that she probably wouldn't pass the exam, and she looks too old," Kazuma informs her.

"Then he," Yusuke points to Kazuma, "thought she should stay with me and Keiko and work in the restaurant."

"Then Yusuke suggested that the demon stay with the fox," Hiei finishes.

Botan is silent for a moment and then says, "Why don't you just let her chose?"

We all look at her in surprise, and she grins. "If you let her chose she will feel more comfortable and more willing to talk. And no matter what, she'll someone in the group so we can all keep in contact and know what is happening."

I nod. It's a perfectly logical idea. Now I just have to hope that everyone else agrees.

"Sounds good to me," Kazuma says.

"Hn," Hiei replies.

Yusuke frowns but agrees.

"Very well then. Once she is awake we'll alert her about this."

At that moment, Yukina entered the room. "Tsukino-chan has just awoken up so we need the dinning room for breakfast."

We all look at each other, silently deciding who will tell Tsukino about who she may stay with.

"I'll do it," Botan volunteers as she stands up.

Yukina looks at her in confusion as the ferry girl runs down the hallway. "What will she be doing?" she asks.

"She's going to tell Tsukino-san that she gets to choose who she is leaving with tomorrow," Yusuke explains.

Yukina smiles. "That's a relief. I thought she had just volunteered to take over Plan A for Kurama."

Unsure what to say to that, I'm silent. Luckily Kuwabara has no such problem.

"Do you need help with breakfast, my lady?" he asks.

"Thank you, Kazuma," she says as the couple leaves the room.

Yusuke leaves soon afterwards, leaving me with Hiei.

"So what's your real plan, fox?" Hiei asks.

"You know me too well, Hiei," I reply. "I need you to go see Koenma. Something about this case doesn't seem right. If you can, try to stay away from patrol duty for a little while and see if you can find out why Koenma is being so vague."

"And what will you be doing?"

"Attempting to figure out who is attacking Tsukino-san. If they are connected to Spirit World in anyway it would explain why Koenma is being so vague."

Hiei nods. "Alright. I'll see what I can do. I suppose you don't want Koenma to know what we are doing though, do you?"

"It might be best to wait until we all go our different ways before paying him a visit."

Hiei nods. "Just try to stay alive, Fox. Whoever is after the girl, they don't care about people getting caught in the crossfire."

I nod, and Hiei disappears out the window. Since breakfast isn't going to be ready for another few minutes I go to my room to make sure I'm packed. I notice that I missed some items and start to figure out how I can get them into my overly stuffed suitcase and still be able to close it.

I really need to get bigger suitcases.

Finally, I decide the easiest way to get everything to fit and still be able to use the zippers was to repack everything. With a sigh, I start unpacking. As I do so, my mind returns to yesterday at the mall. I was slightly surprised that Tsukino was the one who helped me, but I suspect Botan was behind that. What truly surprised me though was how convincing Tsukino's act was.

I feel my face start to heat up at the memory of the kiss on the cheek so I shake my head to remove the thought.

After Tsukino had returned with Botan, we had all gotten something to eat and returned to the temple. On the ride back, Botan was quiet which was a danger sign. After Tsukino had returned to her room, I questioned Botan about her behaviour.

"I'm just worried about Tsukino," she had replied. "Maybe I went a little too far."

"What did you do exactly?" I asked.

Botan didn't answer but suddenly brightened up as if hit by lightening. "I know what I can do! I'll see you later, Kurama."

Before I could ask anymore questions, she had run off to her room.

Now back in the present, I can hear Botan running down the halls calling for Tsukino. She sounds happy so they must have patched things up. I wonder what she meant by "went too far" though. Perhaps I'll find out today.

* * *

_Black Page, Black Page  
__Showing My Path_

* * *

An Easy Decision

"Tsukino-chan! Tsukino-chan!"

I could hear Botan coming from a mile away, but she was a faster runner than I had thought so I wasn't completely dressed when she through the door open.

"Botan-san!" I shouted as I covered my top half with the shirt I was about to put on.

She didn't seem to notice my distress. "Guess what!?" she demanded of me.

"Tsukino-chan? Are you ok?" Keiko asked as she entered the room. It only took her a second to realize what had happened, and she quickly closed the door. "Get that on quickly because in a few seconds one of the boys will come running."

As Keiko had predicted, just as I slipped on the shirt, Kuwabara rushed in.

"I heard screaming. Is everyone okay?"

We all nodded. "We're fine. Botan just got a bit excited for some reason," Keiko said as she looked at Botan who grinned sheepishly.

Kuwabara nodded and slowly said, "Well if you need anything just give us a shout. Oh and breakfast will be ready in five minutes."

He then left the room, and Keiko and I turned to Botan.

"You wanted me to guess something?" I asked her.

Botan nodded and pulled out a box. "Here you go," she said as she handed it to me.

I stared at it.

"Open it," Botan insisted.

I complied and was surprised to see the camera inside. I gave Botan a confused look. "You are willing handing over blackmail?"

Botan nodded.

"What blackmail?" Keiko asked.

I had forgotten that she was in the room and quickly pulled the camera close. "Ah, it's nothing. Really Keiko-san. Don't worry about it."

"It's about Kurama, isn't it?"

"Eh…?" I blinked, completely unable to say anything intelligent whatsoever.

"Speaking of Kurama," Botan cut in. "I was wondering if you wanted to room with him and me."

"I forgot that we were leaving here tomorrow," Keiko said.

I looked at both of them. "I thought you guys lived here."

They shook their heads.

"We just come here during the holidays," Keiko explained. "It's the only time we can all get away from our other jobs."

"So what do you say?" Botan asked. "It would be a great way to get to know everyone."

I shifted uneasily. "I appreciate the offer, but I think I'll just try to find a way back to Demon World. There has to be some way back."

"But that could take weeks, where will you stay until you find a place?" Keiko asked.

I shrugged. "I'll get by. I've lived through worse."

Keiko shook her head. "No you aren't. If you aren't going to stay with Botan, you're staying with me and Yusuke!"

"Don't you think you should ask Urameshi-san before you-?"

She cut me off. "Do you want to stay with Kurama?"

I shook my head. "Botan-san is okay, Kurama-san is…"

Keiko nodded. "It's settled then. Pack up your stuff, we leave tomorrow at noon."

Before I could say anything about, the human had already left the room.

"Botan-san?" I asked. "Do you recall me ever actually saying I was going to stay with her and Urameshi-san?"

Botan gave me a nervous grin. "That's Keiko for you. But don't worry, Kurama's apartment isn't too far from their restaurant so if you need me, I'm just a walk away."

I nodded and led the way to the dinning room. We ate breakfast and Keiko informed Urameshi of her plan to have me stay with them. Surprisingly, he took it quite well. He did tell me that I would have to help out at the restaurant, but I wasn't too worried. There was no way it could have been as bad as the bar I had worked in previously.

I spent the rest of the morning packing so when lunch came around I decided I would spend the afternoon looking around the temple. During my walk, I learned that Genkai had a room full of arcade games, and she enjoyed defeating Urameshi on every one. I quickly grew bored with staying inside the temple, but I didn't really want to go into the forest after what had happened. The sound of something cutting through the air wasn't helping either.

Finally, my curiosity of the forest overpowered my paranoia. I informed Yukina of where I was going and walked into the forest. After going a few feet I was faced with a decision of where to go. I decide to avoid the lake with the bamboo at all costs and went in the opposite decision. Yet another brilliant mistake on my part.

I had barely been walking for an hour when suddenly I heard something huge ripping itself out of the ground. The next thing I knew, a giant mimosa plant was heading right for me. As if that wasn't bad enough, it was the Demon World version. I struggled to remember the fight I had heard over the radio when Kurama had used the same plant in the fight against the demon Karasu.

"_Unless you want to be plant food, don't move._"

I hoped that breathing didn't count as moving.

The plant moved closer to me. Its hand-like leaves and acidic drool dripping heads reached out towards me. I forced myself to hold my breath and hoped it wouldn't notice me.

The plant creeped closer and closer, and I heard something else moving towards me. I couldn't move my head to look, but I had a feeling I wouldn't like what was behind me.

The mimosa was feet from me, and I suddenly remembered two other things Kurama had said. "Looks like you've been recognized as suitable prey," and, "I guess all your trembling caught its attention." If even a small twitch would alert the thing, it most likely had sensed my breathing. I couldn't move from my spot though. In the highly unlikely chance the thing hadn't sensed me, moving would cause it to attack me for sure. So I waited as the plant inched closer and closer.

Finally, the plant was within striking distance, and it lunged at me. I was about to jump out of the way when I felt myself shoved from the side. I was about to rise from the ground when I felt pressure on my head.

"Keep your head down and don't move," a male voice whispered above my head.

I held my breath and waited until I was told it was safe to move again. Once the person was sure I was going to listen, I felt him move away from me and turn to face the plant. I was tempted to raise my head and warn him about the plant, but before I could, I felt something huge fall to the ground.

Then person was at my side and helping me to my feet. I looked over to where the plant had been to see the cut up remains. I tried not to think of how that could have been me if it wasn't for whoever had saved me.

"Are you alright?" the man asked.

I turned away from the plant to come face to face with Kurama. At once I noticed he was still holding my arm. I pulled it out of his grip and turned my back slightly to him. "I'm fine."

He sighed in relief. At least I think it was in relief. I wasn't facing him so it was hard to read his expression.

My eyes fell on the plant again and I muttered, "Where did that thing come from?"

"Demon World," Kurama replied.

I glared at him. "I meant, how did it come here."

Kurama shifted uncomfortably. "Well… I summoned it."

I stared. "Why?"

"Training."

"I thought the next Demon World Tournament wasn't for another two years. Don't they only hold that every three years?"

Kurama nodded. "Yes, the tournament isn't until year after next, and at the moment, it's only being held every three years. I believe just last year a demon named Wakahisa won. But I'm not training for the tournament; I'm just training in general."

He seemed to sense my confusion because he continued talking after a moment. "You can never be sure when something may attack so it is a good idea to be prepared and keep your skills sharp."

"You haven't had a detective case in seven years, right? So why bother being ready when nothing is going to happen?"

Kurama shrugged. "Training is now a hobby of mine, more or less."

"And summoning a demonic plant that could kill anyone in the area is now a hobby?"

He frowned. "I apologize for that, I wasn't aware that anyone else was in the area."

I shrugged. "Thanks for stopping it from eating me," I reluctantly said after a moment.

Kurama nodded. "You're welcome, and I never had the chance to thank you for getting me away from those girls."

He just had to bring that up, didn't he? I felt my face start to colour at the thought of one certain memory. I tried to avoid thinking about it by asking Kurama another question. "Why don't you just turn those girls down and get it over with?"

"It's… hard to explain."

I nodded, ready to leave it at that, but it appeared Kurama wasn't finished yet. I tried to figure out why he was talking to me so freely. Was it another attempt to gain information? I doubted it. He hadn't asked a single question, so was he planning on asking me some once he was done explaining?

At that thought, I started to regret asking so many questions.

* * *

_Black Page, Black Page  
__Slowly Taking Me Back_

* * *

"Why don't you just turn those girls down and get it over with?"

I have never truly thought about it before, and I'm not so sure I want to answer her question, but I have to answer.

Near the beginning of the conversation I realized that she responds to honesty so hopefully this will help her trust me. I suppose this is my goal for the day, getting Tsukino to trust me at least a little bit. Though saving her from a plant I had foolishly summoned without checking the area wasn't really what I had in mind.

"It's… hard to explain," I reply to her. "Hearts are very fragile. Once they are broken, it is very difficult to repair them, and even once they are repaired there are sometimes scars. Human hearts are especially fragile."

"So you're leading the girls on, which in turn could make things worse when you eventually inform them the truth, rather than informing them now so that they can get over it?" Tsukino asks.

Once again, I hadn't really thought of it like that. "Most of the women who are interested in me are at a very… unstable age where they're hearts are even more fragile." Why do I have the feeling I'm not helping myself?

"So you lead them on."

"I don't lead them on. I tell them that I'm not interested, but I do it subtly so that they don't feel any pain."

"That's so noble of you," she says sarcastically. "You do realize that's going to get you raped one of these days."

I'm a bit surprised by her bluntness, but I don't show it as I reply, "I appreciate your concern but rest assured, I will act before I find myself in that situation."

"Just like you did at the mall."

Sensing that continuing on this topic was only going to cause more problems, I change the subject. "Speaking of malls, are you packed yet?"

She nods. "I'm all set to go. Now I just have to hope that Keiko-san and Urameshi-san don't fight the whole way."

"Would you like to ride with Botan and me then?" I have no idea where that came from, but if she replies positively, it's a good plan for Botan and her to bond.

"No thanks."

I shrug. "I suggest some sort of way to keep yourself amused then because it's a very long trip."

Tsukino gives me a suspicious look. "Are you trying to get me to ride with you?"

I shook my head. "I'm just warning you."

She just shrugs it off and turns back to the house. "I'll see you later," she says.

I reply and then walk deeper into the forest to complete my training routine. As I practice with my rose whip, I muse over what I learned.

Well the charmer approach failed. Miserably at that. Maybe it's just because it's me though. She doesn't act so annoyed around the others. I wonder if her being a cat, and me being a fox have anything to do with it. In any case, she knows that I'm trying to get information from her, and I just have to keep up the act until the others obtain the information. It would be nice to talk to her and learn the information first hand rather than from someone else though, but if that's the only way we can complete the mission that is what we must do.

* * *

_Black Page, Black Page  
__Nothing's going Right_

* * *

The next day was murder. I ended up riding with Kurama and Botan because Kuwabara and Yukina were riding with Keiko and Urameshi, and the van was filled with stuff for the Urameshis' baby. I had thought Kurama was going to be smug about it, but surprisingly he seemed virtually indifferent. Botan was ecstatic though and was practically bouncing all the way down to the car. Kurama offered to help me with my bags, but I turned him down. There was just something off about the guy. That and the fact that somehow I always ended up blushing around him. I couldn't remember what kind of demon he was, which bothered me, and I wasn't about to ask while he was around.

Botan passed out as soon as we got onto the highway, and it was tempting to follow her example, but I forced myself to remain awake. The last thing I wanted was to become nocturnal again. Luckily though, it was easy to keep myself awake. My mind kept drifting to all the "fun" things that could happen while Kurama was driving. We could get a flat tire, run out of gas, run into Oshiro's gang, the car could explode, etc. Such fun that could have happened. But nothing of note did happened.

Kurama pulled over just in front of the Urameshis' house/restaurant (they lived above their restaurant), and, for some reason, he felt the need to get my bag out of the trunk while I got out of the car. I took my bag from him and then went to help the Urameshis unload their van. After helping for a moment, Kurama said goodnight, got into his car, and drove to where he and Botan were living.

After he left, Keiko showed me where I was to be staying. The room wasn't all that different from the one at Genkai's except that instead of having wood and paper for walls, there was dry wall that had been painted a nice light blue. The window looked out to the back alley and there was a closet.

Since we were all tired, we all turned in right away, but Urameshi promised to show me the restaurant before it opened the next day. As I lay down on the bed, I wondered if Oshiro knew where I was, and if he didn't, how long it would take him to figure out where I was. It had taken a week for them to find me at Genkai's... Unless they waited a week to speak to me.

A shiver ran down my spine at the thought of them finding me again. The fire had really scared me. I had thought that they didn't want to get involved with the Spirit Detectives, but that didn't seem to be the case anymore. It appeared that I had used up my last chance by the lake, but why were they trying to kill me now? Had Stato been acting on his own instead of following Oshiro's orders?

I shook my head and tried to get some sleep. None of that mattered; all that mattered was that I had to get back to Demon World as soon as possible. Once I was back home, I could move on and forget about all the stuff that had happened to me. But the longer it took to find a way back, the less likely would it be that I would take it.

Finally, sleep came upon me, and I drifted into the black nothingness.

Hours later, Keiko shook me awake.

"Time to go. Yusuke is waiting for you in the kitchen. He wants to show you the restaurant before the breakfast," she told me.

I nodded and got dressed as soon as she left the room. Once I was dressed, I explored the house looking for the kitchen. Luckily, the house wasn't all that big. It was big enough for a family but small enough to not get lost in for hours at a time.

When I finally entered the kitchen, Urameshi grinned at me.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

I nodded and followed him to the stairs leading to the restaurant. Once down there, Urameshi showed me around. The restaurant had many tables with chairs all around the room. There was half a wall separating the kitchen from the seating room. The walls were a covered with wood and one or two pictures of scenery on each wall, some even seemed to be of Demon World.

"Who painted these?" I asked.

Urameshi nodded. "Botan did. We even have some paintings she did of us when we were detectives up in the attic somewhere. I wanted to put one of pictures she did of us at the end of the Demon World Tournament, but Keiko said Hiei's glaring would scare off customers."

I nodded. It probably would have. "Speaking of customers, what exactly did you want me to do?"

"Can you cook?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Never tried to before."

Urameshi nodded. "Well, until we figure that out, you can serve the food to the customers, okay?"

I nodded. "Do I have to wear a uniform?"

Urameshi shook his head. "Nah. What you are wearing is fine... only you might want to hide your ears."

I realized I had forgotten my hat back in my room and felt my ears go back so they would be less visible.

Urameshi didn't notice though. He appeared to be thinking. "You know, I know a few demons who owe me a favour. One of them is a genius at disguising himself. If you want, I could ask him to do something about helping you blend in."

I smiled. "Thank you, Urameshi-san." If I was lucky, Oshiro hadn't already found me and wouldn't if the disguise was a good one.

He grinned. "Call me Yusuke." Then he led me into the kitchen part of the restaurant. He pulled a box out of one of the cupboards and handed it to me. "In there are all the recipes for the food. Pick one you think you can make, and we'll give it a shot."

I felt a bit of fear enter my blood stream as I opened the box. To buy some time, I looked at the cards. Odd symbols covered them, and I stared at each one for at least a second, trying to figure out what the symbols meant. This was what I had been afraid of. I figured I could handle the cooking if I knew what was written on the cards, but I couldn't read the language at all.

"_Baka_," I thought to myself. "_Did I honestly think the knowledge to read and write would just appear out of nowhere? You'd think I would know by now that I can't read anything, not even any of the languages in Demon World._"

For a moment, I stared at a recipe trying to figure out how to tell Yusuke about my problem when a voice cut through the silence.

"She can't read Yusuke."

I jumped and turned to face the door. Standing there was Kuwabara and Hiei. I must had been so wrapped up in my dilemma that I didn't hear the bell.

"Really? You can't read?" Yusuke asked me.

I nodded and looked over at Hiei. "I was just about to tell you when Hiei-san spoke. But how did you know, Hiei-san?"

Hiei just ignored me and looked around the restaurant so Kuwabara answered.

"He can read minds."

I nodded as Yusuke said, "Speaking of minds, do you know where Kurama is? He usually is over here by now."

Kuwabara shrugged, and Hiei remained silent.

Yusuke nodded. "I guess I'll just have to wait for Botan to show up." He turned on the stove. "Tsukino-san, why don't you go help Keiko with breakfast? Tell her I'll be up there in a minute."

I nodded and did as he had asked. On my way up the stairs, I heard Yusuke ask, "So what will you guys have?"

Keiko was already done making breakfast so I just passed on the message. She nodded, and sat down at the table with me. We talked while waiting for Yusuke to show up. She told me a bit about what the men did now that they were retired from the world of the supernatural. Slowly the conversation turned to questions about me, and before I realized it I had explained about my job at the bar.

Luckily, Yusuke came in before I could say too much, and we started eating breakfast. As we ate though, I recalled my plan to get away. I asked if Yusuke needed any help today, and he shook his head.

"Nah, today will be slow but tomorrow we could use your help," he told me.

I nodded and then excused myself. I went to my room, put on my cap and coat, and then opened the window. If I was going to get away, now was the time. Oshiro didn't know where I was, and the detectives didn't suspect anything. Without a second thought, I jumped out the window and disappeared into the back alleys.

* * *

_Black Page, Black Page  
__Will We Win The Fight?_

* * *

Day Fourteen

I had slept in much longer than I had planned and ran to the restaurant to meet with the other detectives in an attempt to be on time.

"You're late," Hiei informs me as I enter the restaurant. "What took you?"

"I'm afraid I slept in," I reply.

Kuwabara nods as he eats his dish. Apparently, Yusuke had made breakfast for us and then returned upstairs to have his own.

Kuwabara motions to my dish, and I sit down. I've just started eating when Yusuke walks into the restaurant.

"Hey Kurama. Where were you? You're usually the first one here. Kuwabara's the one who usually gets here after I finish breakfast," he asked.

"I'm afraid the drive tired me out causing me to sleep in."

Yusuke nods. "At least you didn't have Keiko yelling in your ear to keep you awake."

I nod. "So how is Tsukino-san coping?" I ask.

"Well we just found out that she can't read Japanese," Kazuma tells me.

"And she seems to like the idea of being in disguise to hide her ears and stuff," Yusuke adds.

We all look at him in confusion.

"Since she can't really wear a hat all the time, I thought that Suzuka could give her a disguise," Yusuke explains.

"And how do you plan to gain Suzuka's help?" Hiei asks.

"We just get Kurama to tell him to."

Why is it I'm always the one being forced into things I'd rather not do? "Yusuke, why don't you just ask him?" I ask.

Yusuke grins. "Because he owes you one for the whole Yomi thing."

I frown. "Yusuke, if anything, **I** owe him one for even going along with my plan."

Before Yusuke can think up anything to say to that, Kazuma cuts in. "Let's just ask him, and if he says no, then we'll just force him to."

I just sigh and say nothing. The mission seems to be getting more and more doomed as time goes on. We still know virtually nothing about Tsukino or what Koenma wants from her. I just we get this figured out before those people who attacked Tsukino show up again.

* * *

**A/N: So this has now been somewhat betaed and before anyone asks, no, there has not be been a second tournament yet. Notice how Kurama says seven years since their last case, that was when they were fighting Sensui. The Demon World Tournament wasn't part of their job as Spirit Detectives so that took up three of the seven years. Therefore, this story is taking place four years after the series. Therefore, Yusuke is 22, Kuwabara is 22, Kurama is 23, and Hiei is …? Anyways, that's all that has really changed** **and thanks for reading and reviewing for previous chapters.**

**Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year.**

**-D101**


	8. I Thought He Was Taller

_Disclaimer: As much as I would love to be the creator Yu Yu Hakusho, I could never be. The best I can draw is stick people (now that would be a funny looking manga) so I regretfully say, "I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of the copyrighted characters. But I do own Tsukino, Oshiro, Stato, the plot and the poem in the page breaks."_

* * *

_Recap:_ Everyone returns to Yusuke's hometown, and Tsukino stays with Yusuke and Keiko. While she is with them, it is discovered that she can't read. She also realizes that she has to get out of there ASAP before she became attached. While she is making her escape through the window in her room, Yusuke informs the other detectives of his plan to ask Suzuka for a disguise for Tsukino. As Kurama listens to the plan he can't help but feel that the mission is getting more and more hopeless.

* * *

**Say If It's Worth Saving Me  
****Chapter Eight  
****Another Problem**

My Attempt At Escape

I had barely gone half a block when I realized I heard something following me. At first I thought it was just a bird due to the flapping noise, but I started to change my mind when I heard a small voice saying, "Puu." Finally, I turned and instantly took a step back. Hovering in midair was a small blue birdlike creature that seemed to hover by flapping its ears.

"Puu?" it asked me much like an owl said 'who'.

Unsure of what do to do, I shook my head. "Uh… no…?"

"Puu?" it asked me again.

The thing seemed harmless but very odd. In the end, I decided to ignore it and continued looking for a portal back to Demon World. Since the birdlike creature wasn't going to attack me, there was no harm in letting it follow me. Or so I thought.

* * *

Day Fourteen

After talking for many minutes, we are still discussing asking Suzuka to help disguise Tsukino.

"And what will we do in the meantime?" Kazuma asks. "There are people after her, remember?"

"I'm afraid we will have to rely on the older methods," I reply.

"Do you think that will be enough to keep her hidden from the people after her?" Yusuke asks.

"What do you think detective?" Hiei, who had been quiet most of the conversation, suddenly speaks. He appears annoyed, probably due to the fact that he was going to tail Koenma for the next few days.

"The move from Genkai's to here will have bought us some time. Hopefully enough to disguise Tsukino-san before they find her here. I don't think I have to tell you want could happen if they find her. The fire at Genkai's temple is enough proof that these people aren't playing around," I say.

"Yeah, but usually people don't do that unless you have used up your last chance," Kazuma points out.

I nod and Yusuke speaks, "So just how long have these guys been chasing her?"

"If they are human, probably since she entered Human World. But if they are demons, who knows," I reply. "But that's not important, what we need to do now is keep an eye out. Yusuke, perhaps it would be better that Tsukino-san stays with me so that no harm comes to Keiko."

"What about Botan?" Kazuma and Yusuke ask at the same time.

"She's a Grim Reaper. She's used to being in life and death situations," Hiei says.

"Hey boys," Keiko says as she enters the restaurant. "What are you still doing here? Shouldn't you all be at work?"

"Oh hey Keiko," Kazuma says as the woman walks into the kitchen to stand beside her husband.

She looks at all of us carefully. "Why do you all look so worried? Did you get some orders from Koenma?"

We all shake our heads.

"Nothing," Yusuke informs her.

"So what's the problem then?" Keiko asks.

We all trade a look, and Yusuke nods. "We are thinking of having Tsukino-san room with Kurama," Kazuma tells her.

Keiko gives him a tired look. "You still haven't given up on Plan A, have you?"

I shake my head. "Keiko, we have reason to believe that someone is after Tsukino-san and will do anything to get her."

"What reason?" she slowly asks.

I explain about what happened at the lake with the creatures again, and then Yusuke explains about the fire at Genkai's.

"We think that they may try something worse now so it would be safer for Tsukino-san and everyone around her for her to room at Kurama's. Kurama can work from home and keep an eye on her, right?" Yusuke asks me.

I nod. "Also it would be much more difficult to break into my apartment than your house. No offence meant."

Yusuke nods. "Yeah. I'm still trying to figure out how to work that alarm so that it doesn't randomly go off."

"What about Botan?" Keiko asks. "Will she be safe?"

"She would have been dead years ago if she couldn't fight for herself," Hiei mumbles.

Keiko still seems to not like the idea but nods. "I suppose she would be safer with Botan and Kurama. But how are we going to tell her without explaining that we know?"

We all shrug.

"Yusuke was just suggesting that we ask Suzuka to disguise her. If he agrees and we get the disguise before these people find her, there will be no need for her to move," I explain.

"Suzuka… Wasn't that the clown that Genkai beat up at the Dark Tournament?" Keiko asks.

We nod.

"Since when did you guys become friends?"

"It's a long story," Kazuma tells her.

"Anyways, where **is** Tsukino-san?" Yusuke asks.

Keiko shrugs. "Last I saw, she was headed to her room."

We all nod again as Kazuma, Hiei, and I stand. "Thank you for the meal, Yusuke," I say as I turn to the door.

"Yeah, I didn't choke on anything this time," Kazuma jokes.

Yusuke just laughs. "Yeah whatever. See you guys at lunch."

With that we each return to the other side of our lives. Unfortunately for me, that means paperwork. Within an hour into the work day I'm willing to use my demonic speed and make a break for the closest door. Instead, I use that frustration so that I can get paperwork done faster. If I'm lucky I might be able to get it all done before lunch so I wouldn't have to deal with it again until tomorrow. Sometimes I wonder why I chose to work here instead of going to college. Listening to a professor **had** to be more exciting than this.

With a sigh, I sign another sheet of paper. I reach for the next and realize there was no other sheet. I was done.

"All done, Shuichi?" my step-father asks as he walks by my desk.

I nod. "For today at least," I reply as he starts to look through the papers.

"That's odd."

I look at him in confusion. "Pardon?"

"For some reason my secretary didn't give you the plans for the new policy. I'll go get you my copy so you can make a photocopy and make the changes as you see fit."

I force a smile on my face. "I'll come with you to your office so we don't waste anytime."

My step-father makes a comment about how eager I am, but the only thing I can think of is, I escaped death twenty-three years ago for **this**?

* * *

Twenty minutes of looking and I still hadn't found an entrance to Demon World. The little bird thing was still following me, and I realized it was somewhat familiar. As I walked down another alley, I looked over my shoulder. The bird, Puu I decided to call it, was right behind me giving me a determined/protective look. For a second, it looked almost exactly like the look Yusuke had in his eyes when he was battling it out with Keiko, only there wasn't any anger or love in the creature's eyes.

I shook my head to clear the image and ignored the feelings of familiarity. I had more important things to think about rather than why the creature seemed so familiar. Even after twenty minutes of looking, I still hadn't found a portal. Since there was no longer a barrier between Demon World and Human World I should have been able to find another portal no problem, but that wasn't the case. For some reason, there wasn't a portal to be found. Maybe I was looking in all the wrong places, but I should have at least come across a clue.

As usual, I was running low on time. Sooner or later, Oshiro was going to find me again, but more importantly, Keiko was going to see that I wasn't at the house. When she did, she would probably send the detectives after me. Then they would ask me what I was doing and why I didn't tell anyone where I was going.

I let out a sigh, and I looked around the alley. Still no sign of anything demonic like. I was about to turn into another alley when Puu flew into my face. It grabbed some of my hair in its mouth and started to fly backwards in the direction of the alley I was going to leave. For reasons unknown to me, I decided to humour the creature and turned back into the alley.

"So I'm going this way, huh?" I asked it.

"Puu," it replied as it landed on my shoulder.

I smiled at it and was just about to start walking again when a boy ran up to me. He appeared about eight or nine years old with messy brown hair and bluish green eyes. Normally this wouldn't have been a problem except that all my demonic features were in plain view, and this little boy had three red stars on his left cheek. At once I recognized this boy as Rinku, one of the living members of the Jolly Devil Six.

"Hey, who are you? I don't think I've seen you around Yusuke's team," Rinku asked.

I didn't stop to think about why he thought I would be around Yusuke. I just started talking. "My name is Tsukino," I explained. "I'm staying with Keiko-san and Yusuke-san."

"Tsukino-san, huh? That's cool," he replied. "We were just on our way to go see them." Rinku gestured to a group of four other fighters who I recognized from the Dark Tournament. "Why don't you lead the way?"

That was not what I was hoping for. I had gotten so turned around while looking for the portal that I doubted I could find the Urameshis' restaurant even if I wanted to. "Actually, I'm sorta lost," I said with a nervous laugh.

"That's alright, shella," Chu, the one with the blue Mohawk, said. "Puu knows the way."

"Puu!" Puu said as it started flying off.

"Follow that spirit beast!" the one with the red hair and joyful eyes, Jin, said playfully.

We did so. As we ran after the spirit beast, I silently wondered who's soul Puu was the reflection of. Finally I managed to ask. "You said that Puu was a spirit beast, who owns him?"

"Puu is Yusuke's spirit beast," the one with icy blue eyes and blue hair, Touya, replied.

"N'ver would have guessed by looking, would ya?" Jin said quickly.

I didn't bother to reply because we had arrived at the restaurant. Keiko was outside looking around for something. She seemed worried for some reason. When she saw me, she shouted into the house for Yusuke before running up to meet us.

"Tell me the next time you go for a walk, okay?" she told me when we met up. "You have no idea how worried Yusuke and I were."

I was surprised by hers, and apparently Yusuke's, concern. Before I came to Human World, no one ever bother to keep track of me. Because of that, I felt slightly guilty. "Sorry for scaring you, and I promise I'll let you know where I'm going next time."

Keiko nodded, and Chu spoke up.

"Don't blame the shella. She saw Puu flying out a window and followed. It's just in her blood to be curious."

I was about to say that I hadn't really seen Puu fly out the window when I felt someone pull my hair. I yelped at the pain and turned around to yell at said person. To my discomfort, it was the blonde with greyish-green eyes, also known as Suzuka. On his shoulder was perched a little creature with purple hair, yellow skin, with two horns on its forehead that I hadn't seen before.

Suzuka turned to Yusuke and said, "It will take a bit of work, but nothing I can't handle. I'm surprised that she can't transform into her human form though."

Both Keiko and I looked confused. "Human form?"

"'f course. You don't think this's what we really look like, now do ya?" Jin replied.

Before I could say anything, Suzuka grabbed my arm. "Come on. We have work to do. First we have to make you transform, and then we'll do the disguise." He turned to Yusuke. "Which room?"

"The upstairs kitchen and try not to break anything. We just got it kid proof," Yusuke replied.

The little thing on Suzuka's shoulder scoffed. "I doubt anything will be safe from their kid."

I stared at the creature, trying to remember where I had heard the voice from. I knew it was from a fight at the Dark Tournament but who…? Suddenly I had it. "You're Shishiwakamaru!" I blurted out.

The creature glared at me.

"You sound surprised," Rinku said from behind me as we walked up the stairs to the kitchen of the house.

"I am. I always thought he was taller," I said before I could stop myself.

Rinku looked at me in confusion. "You didn't see him on TV?"

I shook my head. "I only saw pieces of the tournaments on TV. I listened to the radio more."

We entered the kitchen. Suzuka was already over in the corner pulling pots and bowls out of the cupboards so Rinku and I sat down at the table. Rinku was about to ask more questions when Touya calmly cut in.

"Enough Rinku. She's going to need to concentrate."

"Right, about that, what am I doing again?" I wasn't sure why, but I felt that it was alright to be myself around these guys, just like how I was starting to act like myself around the girls.

"You're going to be transforming into your 'uman form," Chu told me as he sat down on his chair backwards.

I nodded. "Yeah but how?"

They all looked at each other as Suzuka told Shishiwakamaru to find a flask.

"You just think about it and then transform," Rinku finally said.

"A babe could do it," Jin added.

"So I just picture a human me?"

Rinku, Chu, Jin, and Touya nodded.

"What is that supposed to look like?"

"Like you, only no cat ears or wings," Rinku said.

"Don't forget 'er tail," Jin added.

"Give it a go," Chu encouraged me.

I nodded and then closed my eyes. Concentrating, I pictured a girl like me, long black hair, fearful brown eyes, and human ears. After a few moments, I opened my eyes.

"Nothing," Rinku informed me.

"Maybe a demonstration would help," Touya said thoughtfully. "Shishi, could you transform for her?"

Shishiwakamaru nodded and flew over. There was a small poof of smoke, and a samurai appeared. Shishiwakamaru didn't look very different, only he didn't have horns, and his skin no longer yellow. "Is this tall enough for you?" he asked.

I looked down to hide a blush. I could now see why demon girls were swooning over him at the tournament. _But as cute as Shishiwakamaru appears, he has nothing on Kurama_, I thought. At once I started blushing more furiously and was thinking of asking Suzuka if he had any poisons on him. _First the mall! Now this! Why the heck am I acting like this?! Usually I wouldn't look twice at a guy no matter how cute he was, but now I'm blushing just beside a cute guy is in front of me! What is wrong with me!? … Wait a second…_ I thought to myself.

"What day is it in Demon World?" I asked. It must have appeared to be a random question to the other demons, but they answered quickly enough.

"It's the fifth day of Hraru," Touya informed me. "Demon World's universal calendar and Human World's American calendar function on the same time."

_Problem solved_, I thought.

Rinku pulled the calendar off the wall of the kitchen and brought it over to me. He pointed to a day with a '1' on it. "The first day of Fiyu is on January first, and the first day of Hraru is on April first."

"Nastu starts on July first," Chu added.

"And good old Aaki starts on October first," Jin finished.

Rinku flipped some pages over and pointed to another day with a '6' on it. "This is today."

I nodded. Glad that my question was answered, I turned my attention to transforming again. "Shishiwakamaru, what does it feel like to transform?" I asked him.

He just shrugged. "It's different for every demon," he told me.

I nodded and decided to try picturing my human version again. I closed my eyes and kept them close until I felt something happen. I opened my eyes.

"Nothing," Rinku said. "Maybe she can't transform."

Chu hit him on the head. "'Ho-ever heard of a demon without a human form. Try again, shella."

I nodded and closed my eyes. It took a good twenty tries before my ears flickered out and then back into existence. Even though I hadn't transformed completely it was a good omen since it meant I was getting close to transforming. After another hour of trying, I had succeeded in transforming into my human form. Just as Rinku had said, I looked the same only without a tail, wings, or cat ears.

I was a bit worried when I realized I couldn't hear as well as before, but Shishiwakamaru assured me that I would get used to it. Jin also commented saying that when I transformed back into my true form my hearing would be good as new. Rinku made the best point though, even if my hearing had weakened it still was more powerful than most humans due to my animal blood.

"So you can't hear for miles anymore," he had said. "That's no big deal. And besides, there's nothing to hear here."

I thanked the guys for helping me transform, and then Suzuka finally joined the group.

"Now the real work begins," he announced.

"What do ya call what we just did?" Jin asked.

"The tip of the iceberg," Suzuka replied before he started staring at me. "A little clip there, a bit of paint there," he started muttering to himself as he got a chair and sat down in front of me.

I looked over at Touya out of the corner of my eye. "What is he going to do?"

Touya sighed. "Probably dye your hair, do your make-up-"

"Make you look like a clown," Rinku muttered.

"Rinku, go ask Yusuke where the closest shop is, I want you and the others to go find me these." Suzuka handed them some papers. "And be fast about it. I want to start dying as soon as I finish cutting her hair."

I made a face at the other guys, clearing saying, 'save me'. They just shrugged in that way that suggested, 'we would if we could.' Then they disappeared down the stairs to the restaurant leaving me alone with the crazy clown.

* * *

I have never been so happy to see Yusuke's restaurant before. The new policy my step-father had shown me took all morning to look over, and I still have to look forward to a meeting that afternoon. If it wasn't for my human mother, I'm sure I would have retreated back to my old ways of thieving to make a living. In any case, it's a blessing to be able to walk to a nice place to eat lunch.

"Hey Kurama, rough day?" Yusuke asks as I enter.

"Boring more than anything. How was yours?" I reply.

He shrugs. "Pretty good."

"Hey guys," Kazuma says as he reaches the counter.

Yusuke and I reply to his greetings. Then Kazuma and I place our orders. As Yusuke prepares our meals, he informs us of what happened that morning.

"So Tsukino-san went missing, but Rinku and his team found her and brought her back, and then Suzuka went to work. He should be finishing up right about now," Yusuke explains.

"It's good that they found her. I doubt we would have found her by the time we could all ditch work," Kazuma says.

I nod in agreement. "So you said that Suzuka is finishing up disguising her? What did he do exactly?"

Yusuke pauses to think. "Well, they got her to transform into her human form-"

"Her what form?" Kazuma asks.

"Human form," I repeat. "Demons can take three forms if they are animal based. One form they can take is an animal form, I doubt Tsukino-san can do that though, due to her mixed blood."

"So you can turn into a fox," Kazuma asks.

I shake my head. "I could before. But it would take too much energy to do it now."

He nods. "So they can turn into animals, you said there were three forms."

I nod. "Another form demons can take is their true form. For Tsukino-san, it is her form with the wings, ears, and tail. And finally, demons can take the forms of humans. That is the form you see Chu and the others walking around in. It hides their demonic features from the world."

Kazuma nods. "So they got her to transform into her human form, then what?"

"I think they cut her hair. They definitely dyed it though because Suzuka sent the others to buy the dye," Yusuke tells us.

Suddenly Rinku appeared at the foot of the stairs. "Yusuke, she's done. Oh hey, Kazuma, Kurama."

"Hello Rinku," I reply.

"Hey kid," Kazuma says.

"Suzuka thought you might be here, he told me to warn you, Kurama."

I give the demonic child a confused look. "Warn me of what?"

Rinku grins. "You might want to be ready to pick up your jaw from the floor." With that, Rinku disappears upstairs leaving the three of us to follow.

"Well, let's go see what the clown did," Yusuke says as he starts for the stairs.

Kazuma and I follow him. When we get to the kitchen we are reintroduced to Tsukino. She grins nervously as Suzuka goes on about how she is probably his best work yet. Kazuma and Yusuke are in denial for a brief few minutes, and even I doubt it is her because even her scent has changed.

When I had first met Tsukino her eyes were brown, her long hair black, and her scent was of the dark side of Demon World.

Now her eyes are still brown, but her hair is short and brown, and her scent is of chrysanthemums. (I realize that what I smell now is just her true scent that had been covered by the reek of Demon World.) Again I'm strongly reminded of Maya, only this time, it is more understandable why. The hair styles are virtually the same, and both girls have brown eyes and now brown hair.

"There is no way that is Tsukino-san," Yusuke tells the demons.

"And yet it is," Suzuka tells him.

"She doesn't look anything like her."

"The fun of human forms," Tsukino says. I'm happy to say that while everything else seemed to have changed about her, her voice was still the same.

"At least we know that no one will recognize you," I tell her.

She nods. "I wonder how Botan-san will react."

"She will probably just accept it and treat you the same. If you want, I can call her and have her come over right now."

Tsukino nods. "If it isn't too much trouble."

I have just pulled out my phone to call when Botan rushes into the room. "Keiko just called me saying I had to come over. She said Tsukino-san is missing!"

We all try to hold back laughter at Botan's display.

Tsukino turns to Keiko who is standing over in a corner. "That's mean Keiko-san. If you wanted me to leave, all you had to do was ask."

Botan stares. "Tsukino-san?"

The female demon nods and waves. "Hiya."

Botan keeps staring for a few more seconds and then says, "Tsukino-san! You look so cute!" She turns to me. "Kurama! Don't you think she looks cute?"

All the other males in the room snicker as Botan awaits my answer. I'm starting to wonder if they are trying to play matchmaker.

Not wanting to be caught in a hard place later, I give her a safe answer. "I've already said my opinion on the disguise," I tell her. It didn't matter what I had said because Botan was busy talking with Keiko and Tsukino about going to the movies.

Leaving the women to talk, the men and I return to the restaurant. We talk for a bit about other matters before the demons turn to leave. They all leave until Chu is left.

"Nice girl, she is," Chu tells us. "Shame she's taken."

Yusuke, Kazuma, and I all stare at Chu in confusion and then look at each other. Koenma hadn't mentioned that Tsukino was in a relationship. If her boyfriend crossed over into Human World, we could be looking at a huge problem. Maybe that was why Koenma wanted information from her. But if that was the case, why didn't he tell us that?

"So do you know who her mate is?" Chu continues.

"Mate?" I ask. This could be a lot worse than I had originally thought.

Chu stares at us in confusion. "You didn't know?"

"She never mentioned being mated," Yusuke says.

"And her scent doesn't suggest that she has one," I add.

"Then why does she have a mark on her?" Chu asks.

"Mark?" Yusuke, Kazuma, and I repeat.

"Yeah, right on 'er neck." Chu pointed at his own neck to emphasize his point. "And can't tell about 'er aura."

Yusuke, Kazuma, and I trade another look.

"Thank you for telling us, Chu. You'd better get going before the others leave you behind," I tell him.

He nods. "No problem. And Urameshi, that party still happening on Friday?"

Yusuke tries to grin and nods. "You know it."

Chu nods before disappearing out the door. Once he is gone, we all trade a look. This bit of news while useful, greatly complicates things.

* * *

**A/N: I feel sorta bad about this chapter for three reasons. One, it's unbetaed for the most part. (I'm lazy and wanted to get this chapter out. So sue me!) Two, Kurama is turning into Seto Kaiba from 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' only Kurama is still nice. And three, the accents. I'm sorta about how pathetic they are, if you have any tips for writing them, please tell me.**

**Other than that, I think I liked this chapter. It's nice and long. The plot is moving. People are getting more in character (except for Kurama). Ah yes. All the fun.**

**Anyways, thanks for reading and reviewing for the last chapter. Please continue to read and review. Until next chapter, see ya.**

**-D101**


	9. Which way did she mean it?

_Disclaimer: Dear Ra. This is getting old. What is copyrighted by me are Tsukino and my other OCs, the plot, the fictional movie Kuro, and the poems in the page breaks._

* * *

_Recap:_ After a failed attempt to return to Demon World, Tsukino meets Puu, Jin, Chu, Rinku, Touya, Shishi, and Suzuka. They return to the Urameshis' place, and Suzuka and the gang teach Tsukino how to transform into her human form as well as give her a disguise. After the mostly human detectives see her, they retreat back to the restaurant to talk. While there Chu informs them that Tsukino has been marked and supposedly has a mate. After parting with his information, Chu leaves with the rest of his team.

* * *

**Say If It's Worth Saving Me  
****Chapter Nine  
****A Crazy Night**

A Painted Mask

Hiding behind the mask created by Suzuka, I felt like the child version of myself. As a child, I was more open and happy. I started to feel that way again and soon, I was acting like myself again. It was a nice feeling, except for the painful reminder in the back of my head warning me. I was a demon, and even if I was in Human World, having a human heart was a deadly mistake. Nothing had happened yet though, so I ignored the warning, and continued joining in on Botan's and Keiko's adventures.

Time passed quickly, and soon a month had passed since I had moved in with the Urameshis'. I started trusting Keiko and Botan enough to tell them a bit more about my past and myself. We became close friends, and soon it was so bad, that you rarely saw one of us without the rest. Kuwabara joked that we were like a female version of the Spirit Detectives. When I asked who was the female Hiei, Yusuke answered Shizuru.

Shizuru was Kuwabara's sister who I had met while I was attempting to survive a Botan attack. Botan had kidnapped me from work and took me shopping with a tall girl with brown hair and passive eyes. She had the scent of smoke around her, like Oshiro, but she was far nicer. I later learned that she was Kuwabara's older sister and had a strong gift of spiritual awareness. After that, Shizuru sometimes aided us in our missions to get Keiko out of the house, but most of the time it was just Botan, Keiko, and me.

Getting Keiko out of the house was one of our main missions because she still hadn't had her baby yet, and Yusuke was becoming more overprotective. Every so often, she would have to sit out on our missions because Yusuke wouldn't let her out of the house. Soon it was so bad that we were sneaking out, and every time we returned to the house, Yusuke caught us. Because Yusuke kept catching us, I still hadn't learned what topless hot was, but Botan told me it wasn't a unit of temperature. "At least, not in the normal sense of the word," she had told me with a giggle.

I had started to wonder if the signal was really just Yusuke's anger. Sometimes he looked angry enough to rival a volcano in contest of destruction. Luckily, most times Kurama was there also to get us out of trouble.

Kurama was another person who had seemed to change over the month as well. He seemed to understand that he wasn't going to learn anything from me and had stopped asking questions. Instead, he seemed to want to be genuine friends, and I started to wonder if Botan was correct when she said he was only asking because he was curious. All the same, I was still careful around him. Just because he acted nice, didn't mean he truly was.

Slowly though, I even started to trust him with my protection, even though, I was now able to protect myself against weaker demons. Over the course of the month, Kuwabara and Yusuke had been teaching me how to use my demonic energy. It was difficult though because demon energy was different from spirit energy. But with some help from Rinku's gang, I was now a force to be reckoned with. Good thing too, because while Oshiro hadn't tried to get me during that month, times were soon to change.

* * *

_White Page, Black Page  
__Black Page, White Page_

* * *

Day Forty-Four

It has been over a month since we first received this mission, and Tsukino seems to have adapted to Human World. Botan and Keiko have managed to become friends with her, but, just as I feared, they appear to have become attached to Tsukino. Yusuke also appears to have become attached to Tsukino. He is quite protective of her, almost in the same way an older brother is protective of his younger sister. Kuwabara has been teaching Tsukino how to read and write and is proud of her progress. He seems to enjoy those lessons almost as much as she does. Even Shishiwakamaru seems fond of her. It appears that I'm the only one, besides Hiei, who has been able to keep my emotions distant from the mission.

Because of this, I hope whatever information Koenma wants doesn't ruin their friendships. Which reminds me, Botan was planning on sneaking out tonight with Tsukino and Keiko. I've better go over to Yusuke's now so that he'll at least be calm when the women return.

***

As I had feared, Yusuke is slowly spinning into a destructive rage when I arrive. It appears that the women have been gone for hours and are due back any minute according to Keiko's note. There isn't much time left to calm Yusuke down. Perhaps one of my plants could paralyse him until his anger has cool-

"Yusuke! We're back!" Keiko announces as she enters the house with Botan and Tsukino in tow.

Too late.

"Where the hell were you!?" Yusuke bellowed.

"At the movies, silly. It says so right in the note," Botan answers.

"The movie ended an hour ago!"

"We got something to eat, just like Keiko-san said we would," Tsukino adds.

I silently shake my head as Yusuke starts ranting. One would think he was an overprotective father whose daughters had just come back from a date.

"Tsukino-chan was bored and wanted to go out. Botan and I were doing her a favour," Keiko justifies.

"Yeah right. You two probably kidnapped her," Yusuke replies.

Botan sighs as she watches the couple fight. "Hard to believe they are married."

Tsukino shakes her head. "Not really. They just bring new meaning to the saying, 'bickering like an old married couple'."

I nod. "So what movie did you go see this time?"

"Howl's Moving Castle," Tsukino replies.

"If only Howl was a real person," Botan suddenly says in a wishful voice.

Tsukino, on the other hand, shudders. "Thank goodness he isn't. Enough hearts are broken without Howl added into the mix."

"Who is Howl?" I ask.

"He's a wizard who is very vain and fickle. He only is interested in a girl when she doesn't like him. Once she falls in love with him, he can't be bothered," Tsukino explains.

"But he's so heroic at the end," Botan whines.

"But it took the whole movie for him to become heroic," Tsukino counters.

Before the two can start a debate, I ask, "So this man is handsome but fickle?"

"Don't forget heroic," Botan tells me. "Just like someone else," she mutters to Tsukino thinking I hadn't heard.

Tsukino just shakes her head and changes the subject. "So are you two coming to the get-together tomorrow?"

Botan and I nod.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Botan tells her. "And this time, I'm bringing my camera."

"Should I be worried?" Tsukino asks.

At this moment, both Botan and I remember that this is the first time Tsukino will be present at one of our get-togethers.

"Just don't drink anything that Chu or Yusuke give you," I advise her.

"Why?"

I chuckle. "Believe me, you don't want to know."

Before Tsukino can ask anymore questions, I turn to Yusuke and Keiko and inform them that Botan and I were returning to my apartment. We say our goodbyes and then disappear into the night. When we return to the apartment, I ask Botan whether she has learned anything of use. As usual, Botan replies in the negative. I could feel that she was hiding something from me, but I do not press her.

As I have said before, I would much rather learn whatever information I can first hand. Since Tsukino trusts me to some extent now, it would be cruel to go behind her back now.

* * *

_White Page, White Page  
__Hiding in my Mask  
__White Page, White Page  
__Found out at last_

* * *

"Tsukino-chan! Time to get up!" Keiko yelled into my room.

"I'm coming!" I shout back as I transform into my human form and get ready for the day. Within seconds, I was in the kitchen and grabbing a piece of toast as I ran to the stairs.

"Going somewhere?" Keiko asked me from her place over at the sink.

I stop a foot away from the stairs and turn back. "I'm working today." The 'I knew it' look on her face caused me to second guess myself. "Aren't I?"

Keiko nodded. "Yes, you are. But instead of working in the restaurant, you are delivering food. Only one order today though. Right now you should be running over to Kurama's job to drop off his and Botan's lunches."

At that moment, I realized it was a Friday and it was almost noon. "Why didn't you wake me up sooner?" I asked as started to attempt to get my shoes on.

"Don't ask me, it was Yusuke's idea."

"Why did you listen to him? You know that it takes half an hour to get there the human way."

Keiko handed me another piece of toast. "That's why you are going the demon way."

I looked at her in confusion. "Keiko-san. We both know that I'm nowhere as fast as Kurama-san or Yusuke-san when it comes to running."

"And that, my not teenager daughter, is why you will be flying," Keiko said as she went behind me.

For the longest time, Keiko had been calling me that. She often said that I was good practice for when their own child was a teenager, though I was probably far better behaved.

"Transform. I'll put the backpack on for you, and Botan will take it off when you get there," Keiko informed me.

I did as I was told and listened as she gave me careful instructions.

"You are to go to floor ten. You should see Botan in a window. She'll be waving. If you don't, go to Kurama's office. It will be empty because he will be at a meeting."

"If he is at a meeting why are we delivering food to him?" I asked as I finished eating my toast.

"Because that is what Botan ordered," Keiko said as she stepped away. "Can you still move your wings?"

I flapped them a few times. "Check."

"Know where you are going?"

"Floor ten. Look for waving Botan-san. No Botan-san go to Kurama-san's office. Hang on, isn't Kurama's office on the tenth floor?"

"I'm just relaying the message," she said as she opened the door. "Off you go. And take your time coming back."

I nodded and then took to the air. It had been a long time since I had gone flying so it was a pleasant experience. I got to the company's building in record time and quickly spotted Botan waving at me. For some reason, it amused me to see her standing in Kurama's office. I flew though the open window and landed safely inside his office without making a noise.

"Wow. You could rival Hiei for quiet entrances through windows," Botan told me as I attempted to slip the backpack off.

I just nodded and tried to get the backpack off.

"You just woke up, didn't you?" Botan accused me.

"It's not my fault I don't have an alarm clock yet," I replied. "Can you give me a hand?"

Botan started clapping and grinning at her own joke. "How's this?"

I glared at her. "Ha. Ha. Just please get the thing off. The food is burning my back through the backpack."

"Well we can't have that," Kurama said as he walked through the door. Since Botan was still grinning at me like an idiot, Kurama removed the backpack. Once he had he gave me a slightly confused look and asked, "Why didn't you just transform into your human form though? It would have been much easier that way."

I avoided his eye and didn't answer. It was fairly obvious that I hadn't been thinking.

"Keiko just woke you up?" Kurama concluded.

I twitched, and Botan said, "Bingo."

I heard Kurama shake his head before setting the backpack down on his desk.

"Would you like to join us?" Kurama asked as he sat down.

I shook my head and transformed into my human form. "I'd better not. I have to get back to the restaurant. It's probably getting busy."

"Come on Tsukino-chan," Botan said as she threw one arm over my shoulder. "I'm sure Keiko and Yusuke can spare you. After all, they sent you here knowing that I would probably try to drag you shopping."

I grimaced. "You aren't really going to… are you?"

Botan looked thoughtful but before she could say anything Kurama cut in. "Only if you don't join us for lunch."

"But what if I make a run for it?"

Kurama chuckled behind his hand. "You're in your human form so you can't leave out the window because Botan would catch you before you transform. And I locked the door when I came in so that no one would disturb us during lunch."

"They do that?"

Kurama nodded. "More often than not, I'm afraid."

"I pity you."

Kurama just shrugged and motioned for me to sit down at his desk. I refused to move until Botan grabbed my shoulder and forced me to sit down right beside Kurama.

Yes, I still hadn't given up on being difficult around him. It was childish, I know, but I couldn't help it! There was just something about him that screamed, 'be careful, and avoid at all cost!' Maybe it was because he was a fox demon and I was part cat demon. In any case, I tried to obey the something as much as I could, and staying to eat lunch was not obeying it.

"So how are you enjoying your stay with Keiko and Yusuke?" Kurama asked.

I shrugged. "Keiko-san is calling me her 'not teenaged daughter', if that gives you any idea."

"Tsukino-chan, try some of this," Botan cut in as she handed me a pair of chopsticks.

"No thanks. I just ate."

"But it tastes so good!"

For a second, I wondered who was acting more childish, Botan or me. "Botan-san, really, I'm fine," I said. "I don't need to-"

Before I could finish my sentence, Botan pushed the chopsticks with the ramen into my mouth. With little choice, I swallowed.

"See?" Botan asked smugly.

I glared at her. "I could have choked you know."

Botan seemed to ignore my comment as she asked, "It was good, right?"

Kurama was silently chuckling again.

I sighed and gave into her demands. "Yes, it was good."

"Perhaps you should finish eating the dish then," Kurama suggested.

I glared at him but took the dish since I knew they weren't going to let me leave.

We ate in silence for a little while until a knocking on the door broke the peaceful silence. Kurama sighed and stood up from the desk. He opened the door and a tall man with black hair and glasses looked in.

"Sorry for interrupting you, Shuichi, but an important fax just came in," the man said.

Kurama nodded and took the paper from the man. "I'll take a look at it right away," he promised.

It was then that the man noticed Botan and I. "Who are your friends, Shuichi?"

"You've already met Botan, and this," Kurama motioned to me, "is Tsukino-san. She is staying with friends of ours. Tsukino-san, this is my father, Hatanaka, Kenshin."

Hatanaka and I exchanged greetings and then he left. Before he left though, I heard him whisper to Kurama, "Your mother will be glad to see that you are finally seeing some nice women who aren't already spoken for."

Once Kurama's father left, I asked him why he was calling Kurama, Shuichi.

"That's my human name," Kurama explained. "And actually that man is my step-father."

"Everyone who doesn't know about Spirit World and Demon World call him that," Botan explained.

I nodded and we returned to eating. Once we were done, I headed back to the restaurant where everything was quiet. It remained that way until everyone came over for the party. Chu had brought several bottles of a substance with him as well. Once the drinking had started it was only seconds before the laughter started.

* * *

_Black Page, Black Page  
__Suggesting a Dance  
__Black Page, Black Page  
__Not Looking For Romance_

* * *

Day Forty-Five

When Botan and I arrive at the Urameshis' for the get-together everything seems perfectly normal. Keiko has prepared some food with the help of Yukina and Tsukino. Yusuke, Kazuma, and Shishi are arguing over which movie to watch. And everyone else is seating in the living room either watching them debate or talking.

The nice thing about our get-togethers is that things don't remain normal for long. Within minutes of Botan and me arriving, Chu brings out the drinks, and quickly, both he and Yusuke are intoxicated. They shout at each other in drunken rage and try to stand up so that they can fight. No one tries to stop them because they can't do any real damage. A perfect example is Yusuke; he attempts to stand at least twelve times before he finally succeeds, but he remains standing for least than a minute. Just seconds after Yusuke has managed to stand, Puu flies into the room and lands on his head. This causes Yusuke to become unbalanced, and he falls to the ground.

At that moment, Botan suggests a movie. Before anyone can say anything about it, she puts the disc for Kuro into the DVD player.

***

For the pass hundred twelve minutes Yusuke, Kazuma, and I experienced circulation loss in one of our arms. Yukina had her face hidden in Kazuma's shoulder, while Keiko and Botan clutched Yusuke's and my arm, while watching the movie through their fingers. Because of that some of us were happy when the movie was over. Others wanted the movie to continue.

"Let's watch the sequel!" Rinku shouts as he reaches for Kuro 2.

Luckily for those of us who are still regaining use of one arm, Tsukino pulls the video away from him.

"That can be next week's movie," she tells him. "I don't think Keiko-san can handle another horror movie."

"The lass is right," Jin says. "That sorta scary ain't good for the babe."

Rinku pouts and sits down again only to jump up a second later. "I almost forgot!" Before anyone can say ask him what he was talking about, the little demon disappears only to appear with a huge cake.

"Happy birthday Yukina!" Rinku and the rest of his gang shout as he sets the cake down on the table.

Yukina gives the demons a hug as she says her thank you's. Once she has thanked everyone, she starts to cut the cake and we bring out the presents. She tells us all that we shouldn't have and Kazuma replies, 'that's why we did.'

That's when the real drinking starts. Jin, Chu, and Yusuke are drinking like there is no tomorrow while Shishiwakumaru glares at them over his own cup. (I believe it was his ninth one.) Touya, Suzuka, Kazuma, and I only drink a glass and watch as the three have a drinking contest. From where I'm standing, I have to say that Jin is winning. The only ones that do not join in on the drinking are Tsukino and Keiko.

Chu notices this part way through the contest and offered her some. She refuses but Chu keeps trying to pressure her to drink. Before he succeeds, I walk over and tell him to leave her alone. For some reason, after I say that, Tsukino takes the drink from Chu and takes a sip. I wonder if she did that just because, in so many words, I told her not to.

While she is drinking, I catch the scent of the drink. It's not Ogre Killer, but it's almost as strong.

When Tsukino hands the drink back to Chu, I'm not surprised to see that she doesn't seem able to put it in his hand. She seems to sense her own weakness as well, and excuses herself before heading to the backyard. Concerned that something might attack her, I follow.

Once outside, I'm surprised to learn that I can still hear the music from inside the house.

"I never realized how loud everything was," Tsukino says when I talk over to her. She's leaning against the fence as she looks at the house.

I quietly reply, "You're intoxicated state must be affecting your ability to tune out noises."

She nods. "At least the music is easy to listen to. Much better than at the bar."

Odd that she finds Gackt's "Lust for Blood" easy to listen to. "You drink often?"

She slowly shakes her head, as if the motion hurt her. "No, worked at one in Demon World."

"May I ask which one?"

"The Nishi, it's in a town that used to be part of Yomi's turf."

I nod. Now that I think of it, I recall seeing someone who looked like her once when I went there to be away from Yomi's plans for a moment. It had been a nice change to watch drunks be fools rather than sober military staff.

We are silent for a moment, as I try to think of something to say. The song changes, and I suddenly have an idea. I hold my hand out to her. "Would you like to dance?" Not one of my better ideas, but the song was slow enough that we weren't going to be jumping around like monkeys.

She nods after a moment and takes my hand. We start a slow ballroom style dance so that her headache won't worsen. After a moment or two I ask, "Why did you come to Human World?"

She doesn't say anything for a moment. When she does speak, she doesn't answer my question. "You're a good dancer," she says as she lays her head on my chest.

I nod, trying not to blush. "So are you."

She smiles and then clutches her head.

"Are you alright?" I ask in a hushed tone, concerned that a louder one would cause her more pain.

She gives me a slight nod. "Yusuke-san just spiked his energy that's all."

I frown. I hadn't sensed anything. "Do you want to go inside?"

"I'd rather stay out here. It's a nice night," she replies as she sits down.

I nod and remain outside with her. It's a warm night so there was no hurry to return inside.

"Kurama-san?" Tsukino says after a moment.

I turn to face her. "Yes?"

"Why don't you sit down?"

I sit down beside her and wait for her to speak again.

"Do you miss Demon World?" she asks.

I do not turn to look at her and instead look at the starless sky. "No."

She looks at me in confusion. "Why not?"

"Simply because Human World is my home now. I have no reason to return to in Demon World, and every reason to remain here."

She nods. "When I came to Human World, I was scared that I was going to die before I returned to Demon World. But after a while, I realized that returning to Demon World would be silly."

I look towards her. "Why?"

She pulls her knees to her chest. "You know that mixed breeds like me are hated, Kurama-san."

I nod. She is lucky to have lived this long. Most mix-breeds are killed before they reach ten years of age. "You made it this long," I tell her.

She nods. "I got lucky. My genes took more after the animal part of the gene rather than the demon. When I was a year old, I was already fully grown. Because of that, I was able to protect myself somewhat."

"May I ask how old you are?"

"Twenty-five. You?"

"Twenty-three in this body. Over 3000 in my previous one."

She looks at me in confused before she remembers whom she is talking with. "I had forgotten that you were really Yoko Kurama." She sighs. "It must have been nice being in control of your life."

I say nothing, and we are silent until we hear something break inside the house. By the sounds of it, it was just a bookshelf. Because of the crash and yelling though, Tsukino shivers in pain. To dull the noise a bit, I put my hands over her ears and pull her into an embrace so that my arms wouldn't get tired. To my surprise, Tsukino doesn't try to pull away. Instead, she nuzzles my chest as she closes her eyes. At that moment, I notice the bite mark on her collar bone and the energy of someone outside the yard.

Didn't she realize what her mate would think if he caught us like that? "T-Tsukino-san," I manage to stammer.

She pulls away. "Sorry," she mutters, looking slightly like a kitten who had just been hit.

I try to ignore the feeling of guilt for making her look like that. "What about your mate?" I ask.

She stares at me in confusion through narrowed eyes. "What mate?"

"Yours." I point to the bite mark for emphasis.

She still looks confused. "This?" she points to the bite mark, "This is just a bite. I don't have a mate."

At that moment, I realized she was still too young to know how mating worked. Someone must have marked her just to get dibs. In any case, it still isn't right for me to use her lack of knowledge to my advantage. So I just shake my head and let the subject drop.

After a minute, Keiko calls us inside from the window. I help Tsukino to her feet and then start to lead her to the house. She is still a bit tipsy and holds onto me for support.

We are almost at the house when she stops. When I turn to face her, I am startled to feel her lips against mine. My face heats up as she pulls away. I hope no one saw that.

She is disappears into the house before I can say anything. Not that I can think of anything to say. My mind has just exploded with questions.

What was the kiss for?

Was she trying to distract me from something?

Was it a side effect from the alcohol?

Did she really mean it?

And most importantly, if she did mean it, did she mean the in the human way? Or the demon way?

* * *

**A/N: Haha Kurama. I love confusing him so. Anyways, I have some comments of my own.**

**1. I think I've given up on betaing. I'll just reread it so many times and then post. If there are any really big mistakes please tell me so I can fix them. Or yell at me to get a beta reader or to start betaing again.**

**And**

**2. I made up Kurama's step-dad's first name.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thanks for all the reviews. Please keep reading and please review.**

**-d101**


	10. Cooking with Kurama

_Disclaimer: I wish I was able to shoot the person who came up with copyrights laws and stuff…but then I wouldn't be able to yell at people who steal Tsukino, my other OCs, plot, or poems… Hmmm… maybe those laws aren't so bad after all._

* * *

_Recap:_ A month has passed since Tsukino moved in with the Urameshis. Everyone is quite fond of her now except for Kurama who is attempting to keep his distance. That attempt is starting to fail due to an interesting conversation with an intoxicated Tsukino, which ended with a small kiss. As Tsukino returned to the house, she leaves Kurama pondering whether she meant it in the human way, demon way, or at all.

* * *

**Say It If It's Worth Saving Me  
****Chapter Ten  
****101 Courses**

Day Forty-Six

Alarm clocks are most troubling things, especially when they decide to start ringing on the only day you can sleep in. The only thing more annoying than being awoken by an alarm is being awoken by a hyper-active ferry girl. Unlike an alarm, Botan yells, and if that doesn't work, she'll pour hot and then freezing cold water onto you.

Needless to say, on day forty-six, I received a shower in bed.

"Kurama, don't tell me you forgot!" Botan yelled at me once she saw that I was awake.

I shook some of the water out of my hair as I reply, "What exactly did I forget?"

"It's your day to place the order for lunch," Botan explained with a smile.

I sighed and reached for the phone. Just as I started to press the 'talk' button, Botan reminded me that all the phone lines were down for repairs.

Because of that I am now walking to Yusuke's and Keiko's restaurant.

I can't help but hope that Tsukino isn't working or if she is, I hope she doesn't remember last night. I'm not sure how she would react to me knowing some facts about her life.

***

"Hey Kurama," Kazuma says as I take the seat beside him. "Yusuke just went upstairs to get Tsukino. She's going to start learning how to cook today."

I nod and manage a small smile. I hope Suzuka didn't leave any of his poisons here. "I'm only here to place an order for lunch."

"I thought you had the day off."

Before I reply Yusuke appears at the foot of the stairs with Tsukino, who is in her human form.

"Hey Kurama. Placing an order for lunch?" Yusuke asks.

I nod. "The usual if you don't mind."

Yusuke grins and starts to show Tsukino how to work the stove. "You're the one paying," he says over his shoulder.

After a moment or two, Tsukino runs upstairs to finish her breakfast, and Yusuke walks over to Kazuma and me.

"So Kurama," Yusuke says with a cocky grin, "I hear you are hitting on Keiko's 'not teenaged daughter'."

Kazuma laughs. "Nice joke Yusuke. As if Kurama would hit on her," he says.

Yusuke grins in my direction, and I glare at him, daring him to say more. Unfortunately, he does so.

"Why don't you tell him Kurama?"

Kazuma looks at us in confusion.

"Yusuke is merely playing around. Nothing happened," I say coolly.

Yusuke's grin widens. "I don't know. That kiss sure didn't seem like nothing to me."

To my dismay, my human emotions get the best of me as I quickly, and immaturely say, "She started it." I realize the stupidity of the move as the words leave my mouth.

Both Yusuke and Kazuma start laughing as my face flushes. I'm starting to remember why I disliked being human. Whenever someone implies that you have a relationship with someone, you instantly deny it in the most immature way possible.

"Relax man," Yusuke says after a moment. "I know that she kissed you, and you did nothing."

"He did nothing?" Kazuma repeats.

Yusuke nods. "Kurama was stiff as a board. For a second, I thought his brain had exploded."

"And how would you know this, Yusuke? If I recall correctly, you were intoxicated at the time," I ask.

Yusuke grins. "I was sober enough to remember what happened. That and Yukina filled in the blanks. She told me not to say anything though because she wasn't sure if Tsukino meant it in the human way or demon way."

"What's the difference?" Kazuma asks.

Yusuke shrugs, and I sigh.

"When humans kiss it means they are showing affection for the other person, correct?" I ask.

Both men nod.

"When demons kiss it just means they consider the other demon a possible mate. Affection has nothing to do with it."

"Well at least we know that she doesn't hate you anymore," Kazuma says.

I shake my head. "She was intoxicated at the time. She wasn't thinking properly."

Yusuke nods. "What about at the mall though? She was sober there."

I suppress a shiver at the memory of being surrounded. "That's also different. When a demon kisses another on the check it is showing ownership of the other demon."

"So meanings change depending where demons kiss each other?" Yusuke asks.

I nod slowly.

"Sounds like rabid fan girl language to me," Kazuma comments.

Yusuke and I nod.

"So you can see how easily things can be misinterpreted," I say after a moment.

The younger men both nod.

"And just when I thought I finally understood demon culture," Yusuke mutters.

Kazuma nods and then stood up. "Well as fun as this is, I have a class to get ready for. Have fun teaching Tsukino-san to cook."

Yusuke nods and then turns to me. "You have the day off, right?"

I slowly nod. "Yes, why?"

Yusuke tosses me an apron. "You get to help teach."

I hand the apron back and stand up. "Unfortunately, I must decline."

Yusuke just shrugs. "Oh well, I guess I'll just have to remind Tsukino-san of last night with a few added details of my own creation."

I stop at the doorway and turn back to face Yusuke. "You wouldn't dare."

Yusuke grins. "How well do you know me?"

With a frown and a glare, I walk over and grab the apron.

Note to self: I must repay Yusuke for this the first opportunity I get.

* * *

_White page, White page  
__Slowly Turning Black_

* * *

Human Life 101

The morning Yusuke was teaching me to cook I woke up with a monster headache. When I asked Keiko about it, she just shrugged.

"Alcohol can do that to you, but I don't remember seeing you drink anything. Maybe it's just the weather," she had said.

In any case, I tried to go about my day as I normally would. Unfortunately, that plan failed about an hour into the day. I opened the restaurant with Yusuke and started eating my breakfast before Yusuke called me downstairs to show me the stove. Kuwabara and Kurama were there, but I didn't speak with them since I was busy trying to remember Yusuke's instructions.

After listening to Yusuke for a minute, I returned upstairs to finish eating. The day was still perfectly normal up to that point, but that all changed when Yusuke returned upstairs. With him was an apron holding Kurama who seemed less than impressed.

Keiko and I both stared at the men as Yusuke explained that since he was going to be busy in the restaurant, Kurama was going to teach me how to cook. Once Yusuke was done explaining, Keiko agreed with the idea and went to her room to rest (the baby was due any day now), and Yusuke returned to the restaurant leaving Kurama and me alone.

After a moment, Kurama sighed and asked, "Have you done any sort of cooking before?"

I shook my head. In Demon World, I never had the time to cook anything, and even if I did, I wasn't able to make a fire or use a stove.

Kurama turned to the stove and motioned me to come over. I did so and he asked me if I knew what each dial on the stove meant. Yusuke had just told me what each did that morning so I was able to answer easily. Then Kurama pulled out the recipe box. I am proud to say that by that time I could read every recipe without a problem. The problem would be knowing what ingredients were which.

He pulled one out and handed it to me. "We'll try making something simple to start off with."

I read the top of the card. 'Tamagoyaki, Ingredients: 4 eggs, 3 tablespoons dashi soup stock, 2 tablespoons sugar.'

"What's a tamagoyaki?" I asked him as I handed the card back.

"It's a rolled omelette. You do know what omelettes are, correct?"

He meant it kindly but I still felt a bit embarrassed I admitted I wasn't quite sure.

Kurama realized that he had made me uncomfortable, and gave me a small smile. "Keiko doesn't tell you the names of the food she makes, does she?"

I shook my head. "She's made this thing before?"

He nodded. "Everyday. Do you recall that rectangular… block of eggs she makes?"

I nodded. We had just eaten that that morning.

"That is tamagoyaki."

I nodded in understanding. "So what are tablespoons?"

Kurama walked over to one of the drawers in the kitchen and pulled out a couple of spoons. Unlike the normal spoons that we ate with, these had writing on them.

"These are measuring spoons. As you can see some are smaller than others and have numbers on them," Kurama explained as he handed me them.

I studied them and realized that he was correct and that some were tablespoons and other were teaspoons. I asked Kurama about why some where called teaspoons, and he just said that it was just another way to measure.

Once I had found the '1 tablespoon,' I sat it down on the counter. Kurama then asked me to get the eggs and dachi soup while he looked for the sugar. I nodded and went over to the fridge. I found the eggs easily enough, but I had trouble finding the soup. I knew that Keiko had made some the day before and had put it in the fridge to use later because she and Yusuke had been talking about. For whatever reason, though, I just couldn't find it.

"Having trouble?" Kurama asked as he walked over.

"No, the soup is just hiding," I replied as I looked around the shelves.

I heard Kurama chuckle as he reached into the fridge. Within seconds, he had found the dachi soup. "Maybe you were just looking too hard?" he asked as we sat the ingredients down on the counter.

I avoided eye contact by looking at the recipe card again and changed the subject. "So now we beat the eggs in a bowl?"

Kurama nodded and pulled out a bowl and a fork. "Keiko probably uses a whisk, but I find this works better," he explained. Then he taught me how to break an egg. I was surprised to learn there was an art to breaking eggs. You had to break them so that the shell didn't get mixed in with the egg whites and yoke. It was surprisingly difficult, but by the time the fourth egg was cracked, I had some skills.

Kurama then picked up the fork and bowl and started to beat the eggs. After a moment, he handed me the eggs and let me try. Then we added in the sugar and the dachi soup stock and stirred.

Once the mixture was ready, we turned our attention to the stove. Kurama instructed me to turn the stove on and heat the rectangular pan that he had gotten out. Once the pan was heated on medium heat, Kurama showed me how to oil the pan.

I was a bit confused as to why the oil wasn't mentioned in the ingredients, but Kurama explained that the oil wasn't actually in the food so it was more like a tool to make the tamagoyaki. Sorta like the pan we were using.

Once the pan was oiled, Kurama showed me how to pour the egg mixture onto the pan and spread it over the pan. I was a bit surprised to see that we didn't use all the eggs, but he said that it would be used later on.

When the mixture was almost half-way cooked, Kurama pulled out a spatula and handed it to me. He told me to roll the egg towards me. I tried a few times to move the egg, but it refused to remain still. When the egg was half-way cooked, Kurama put his hand over mine and guided me to roll the egg over. Once it was in its proper location, I oiled the empty part of the pan and poured some more of the mixture onto the pan.

Once it was half-way cooked, I rolled that egg over top of the other one and we let it cook until it was done.

When it was done, Kurama helped me take the tamagoyaki out of the pan and onto a plate. Then he handed me a knife and instructed me to cut it into one-inch rectangular pieces.

Once I had, he announced that I was to use the left-over egg mixture and make a second one, on my own.

It didn't turn out as badly as I had thought. The bottom was a bit burned because I wasn't sure when the tamagoyaki was cooked, and Kurama had to help me with the rolling the egg again. But it still tasted normal.

Once the tamagoyaki was completed, Kurama congratulated me on a job well done. He then handed me the recipe box.

"Pick one and we'll make it," he told me.

I looked over the recipes and pulled out one that said, 'Purin,' and decided to give it a shot.

"How about this?" I asked as I handed Kurama the card.

He read it over and nodded. "It will give you a bit more experience with the stove," he said. "But we'll have to go and buy some things. I don't recall seeing any butter in the fridge."

I nodded and walked over to the fridge and pulled the grocery list away from its magnet. "That's because we're out at the moment. If we are going shopping I might as well get the groceries too."

Kurama nodded. "Very well. How about you inform Keiko of our plans while I inform Yusuke, then I'll meet you outside the restaurant."

I nodded and went to find Keiko. She was sitting in her easy chair reading and was glad that I had told her before running off.

"Unlike someone I could mention," she had added as she tossed me some money.

I then went to my room and grabbed my wallet, hat, and coat. Even after a month I still had a bit of trouble remaining in human form for long periods of time.

Once I had everything, I met Kurama outside and we headed of to get the groceries. Since this was my first time getting groceries Kurama led the way. He was a bit confused as to why I was wearing my hat and coat, so I was forced to explain about my problem. He seemed to understand, and assured me that I would get the hang of it eventually.

We managed to get to the grocery store and collect all the ingredients before trouble showed up. Just as we were leaving the store two women bumped into me. I couldn't help but feel it was intentional since the force managed to knock me to the ground. Kurama was going to help me up when the two women noticed me on the ground. They quickly turned back and helped me up, apologizing repeatedly. I felt a bit guilty then for thinking it was intentional and told them that it was all right. They insisted that it wasn't though and offered to get me a drink. I politely refused but they refused to be denied.

"Please, let us make it up to you," one of the women said.

"It's okay. Really, I have to go with my friend," I replied.

"I'm sure your friend can wait for a minute or two," the other replied. It was apparent that they hadn't noticed Kurama.

"I really have to go. Maybe later," I replied as I tried to walk over to Kurama. I had only gone a step when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"It will only take a second," the women said.

Finally, Kurama stepped up and pulled me away from them. Once we were out of their hearing, Kurama told me to check to make sure that none of the ingredients had been tampered with. I gave him a confused look, but he didn't explain what he meant.

We kept walking, and I checked all the groceries to make sure they were still safe. Once I had almost walked into someone so Kurama held onto my arm and led me as I looked. Everything looked safe to me except for an apple with looked like it had been stabbed and injected with something. I showed it to Kurama, and he scrunched up his nose for some reason. He then took the apple from me and quickly threw it into a garbage can.

"Rule number one of living in Human World," he told me. "Keep your eyes out for fellow demons."

I stared at him. "You mean those women-?"

"Yes, they were demons. Dog demons if I'm not mistaken. They must have caught your scent and decided to have some fun."

"I thought demons aren't allowed to attack anyone in Human World."

Kurama shook his head. "We aren't, but other demons are fair game. And since there is still a war going on between the cat and dog demons, they must have thought that this would be a good time to join in."

"Wouldn't they have also caught the scent of bat on me though?"

Kurama shook his head. "I doubt it. Your scent is mostly of a cat demon, and the dogs probably only got a second to study the scent. They probably overlooked the part of your scent that was a bat demon's."

I nodded and followed in back to the restaurant. After a moment, I asked, "You said rule number one was to look out for fellow demons, are there more rules?"

He nodded. "You were sheltered at Yusuke's so we felt no need to give you the crash course, but if you are going to be walking around Human World-"

"I would have to learn what to look out for," I finish.

He nodded again. "I think you only need to worry about the first two rules though."

"What's rule number two?"

He gave me a serious look. "Don't go anywhere alone unless you can fight a level B or higher demon. As I said before, humans are safe from demons, but demons are not safe from other demons or humans. If you are going to go anywhere in Human World, make sure you are with someone who knows the dangers."

"Like you?"

He nodded. "Or Yusuke or Kazuma. Botan and Yukina are also wise choices because they know what to look out for. But do not go anywhere alone unless you are going on a delivery and flying."

"So that is why Yusuke only gives me enough time to fly when I'm running delivers," I thought aloud.

"Yes. In a way, Human World is just as dangerous as Demon World if you do not know your way." He sighed and gave me a sad look. "I'm sorry that I had to ruin your thoughts of a peaceful Human World."

I shrugged. "Better scared than dead."

Kurama didn't say anything, but he gripped my arm tighter as we walked onto the street that the restaurant was on. "The dog demons apparently want to know where their target lives," he muttered to me as we kept walking.

"Should we try to lose them?" I asked.

Kurama didn't answer for a moment but instead spiked his energy. "Hopefully that will intimidate them," he muttered to me.

"Is that rule number three? Avoid fights whenever possible?"

"That's rule number four."

I glared at him from the corner of my eye. "Kurama-san, wouldn't it just make more sense to teach me Human World one 'o' one?"

He chuckled. "Do you think you can handle it on top of Cooking one 'o' one?"

"I won't be able to cook if I can't survive Human World."

Kurama didn't answer, but I saw him smiling.

* * *

_White page, White page  
__Slowly Give Trust Back_

* * *

We are forced to keep walking around because the dog demons were not intimidated by my power. After many minutes though, the dog demons give up and disappear into an alley. I urge Tsukino to keep walking though, just in case they are still watching from the shadows. Once I am sure they are gone, we return to the house to make purin (custard pudding.)

During the twenty minutes it was cooking in the streamer Tsukino and I sit at the table and talk. Once more I try to gain information but this time, I'm careful to be subtle about it. The last thing I need is her distrusting me again.

"So is there anything else I should know about living in Human World?" Tsukino asks after a moment.

"It all depends on your abilities. Are you a fighter or a healer?" I reply.

She thinks for a moment before saying, "Fighter I guess."

I nod. So she must have more abilities besides creating that light. "Then you should learn to be able to recognize when you are facing someone you can't win against and how to deal with the situation."

"So basically the same thing as in Demon World."

"Only in Human World you cannot reveal that you are actually a demon."

She nods. "So I guess I have to practice remaining in human form some more."

"It would be wise to do so."

"Anything else?"

"You are learning the language quite quickly, which is good and learning about the culture of the world around you. The only thing you really have to learn is how to protect yourself and recognize other demons and possible threats."

She nods again and then asks, "About those demons, what are the chances of them finding me?"

I muse over the question and wonder if she was thinking about another group of people as well. "It's hard to say, but I wouldn't worry. If they are smart, they will avoid this place because of Yusuke."

"Yusuke-san is a demon, correct?" Tsukino asks after a moment of silence.

I nod.

"Then isn't he breaking the law when he fights with Kuwabara-san?"

I shake my head in amusement. "To everyone who doesn't know them, he is. But Yusuke and Kazuma are special cases. They fight with each other but never to cause harm. If Yusuke fought against a human, intending to harm them, without a good reason, then yes. He would be breaking the law."

"What would be a good reason?"

I pause and think it over. "To be honest, I'm not quite sure. By Spirit World law, the only way to punish a demon is when they kill a human, regardless of the circumstances. In Demon World, I believe if a demon causes any sort of trouble with humans they can be punished unless the demon is acting in self-defence."

She nods. "So even spirit detectives can be punished?"

I nod. "Especially spirit detectives. If we break the law, what does that say about Spirit World?"

She nods in understanding and walks over to the stove to check on the pudding. "Do you think it's ready?"

I walk over and look at it. "I would wait a few more minutes."

She nods, and we return to our chairs. We remain in silence until I say that the pudding was probably ready.

We finish making the pudding and taste it. Tsukino is pleased when it turns out perfectly fine.

"Perhaps you should give some to Keiko," I suggest. "She must be getting hungry."

Tsukino quickly gets some tamagoyaki and a piece of pudding and runs to Keiko's room to deliver it. While she is gone, Yusuke appears at the stairs.

"What's that?" he asks as he points at the pudding and the omelettes.

"Tamagoyaki and purin," I reply.

Yusuke stared at me. "No really, what is that? That can't be real food. It looks too normal."

"Try it," I dare him.

After a second of hesitation, Yusuke does so. His eyes light up in surprise. "Wow. She did really good for her first try. It actually tastes like food," he says.

"Thank you, Yususke-san. I had a great teacher," Tsukino says as she enters the room with Keiko.

"Maybe we should hire Kurama and Tsukino-chan as cooks then," Keiko jokes. "They make a good cooking team."

Tsukino and I say nothing, but we trade a look. She grins in my direction, and I smile in hers.

All in all, the day wasn't a total waste. While I may not have learned anything of note, I gained a bit more of her trust. I just hope I don't betray it.

* * *

**A/N: Two chapters in three days. That's pretty good for me. Anyways, here are my notes about this chapter:**

**1. I've never made tamagoyaki or purin so the instructions may be flawed. I was guessing from what I learned from the Internet.**

**And**

**2. Kurama is vague about the making of purin (custard pudding) because he expects whoever who is reading his case book to know how to make purin because it is very popular in Japan. That and it wasn't very important to the case.**

**Anyways, thanks again for the reviews, favourites, and alerts. I'll try to update soon. Please review.**

**-D101**


	11. Bubbles

_Disclaimer: I am a fan of Yu Yu Hakusho. I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. I did not create Yu Yu Hakusho. That is why I'm writing on this site, and why this story is not part of the manga or anime. Because of this, Tsukino and my other OCs, the plot, and the poems are mine and mine alone._

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_Recap:_ Yusuke blackmailed Kurama into teaching Tsukino to cook. During the lesson, they ran out of ingredients and were forced to buy more at the store. While leaving the store Tsukino and Kurama ran into a pair of dog demons, which caused Kurama to reveal the first, second and fourth rule of living in Human World. Be on the lookout for fellow demons. Never go anywhere alone unless you can take a level B or higher demon on your own. And avoid fights whenever possible. When they returned to the house, they continued the lesson and Kurama managed to gain a bit more of Tsukino's trust. And slowly, he is starting to realize that his attempt at remaining distance is failing.

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**Say It If It's Worth Saving Me  
****Chapter Eleven  
****A New Life**

A Talk with Botan

"Tsukino-chan! Time to get up!"

I slowly raise myself out of bed and walk towards the kitchen. At the time, I didn't know it, but it was going to be a long day.

"Tsukino-chan! Oh there you are," Keiko said when she saw me enter into the kitchen.

I just nodded in reply and sat down at the table with my head in my hands.

"Are you feeling okay?" she asked as she put the toast on the table.

I slowly nodded. "I'm fine. Just a bad headache. It happens every year at this time so you don't need to worry," I replied.

"Are you sure?"

I winced at the sudden noise of a muted kick hitting something. At the same time, Keiko winced as well.

"Baby kick?" I asked as pushed out a chair for her with my foot.

Keiko nodded as she sat down. "That one was far more powerful than usual."

I nodded. "Maybe because it is close to the time it will be born?"

She shrugged. "Maybe. Anyways, back to your headaches, is there anything you can take for it?"

I shook my head. "I just have to wait it out. It only lasts a few hours." My head pounded and I muttered, "Damn spring," as I laid my head on the table and covered it with my arms.

"What does spring have to do with it?" Keiko asked.

I shrugged but did not move my head from the table. "No idea. For whatever reason, during the spring I always get headaches."

"Do you think it's because you're a demon that is… 'based' on an animal?"

I slowly looked up. "Meaning?"

"Well animals have times when they mate right?"

I glared at her. "Keiko-chan, if that is the reason, I will personal go up to the deity that came up with this idea of torture and give it a piece of my mind."

Keiko stared at me in surprise. "That's the first time you've added chan to my name."

I nodded. "I was planning on calling you that while I was in a better mood but what the heck."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's not really fair that you get to call me Tsukino-chan, and I can't call you Keiko-chan."

"Does that mean I can call you by your first name?"

I tried to hide the flitch that attacked me because of her question. "Tsukino is my first name," I lied.

Keiko nodded. "So your name is like Hiei's. First name only."

"Kurama-san too. Yoko is just a title like how you humans add 'King' to the names of your kings."

My head pounded again but this time for a different reason. There was a noise in the room. I wasn't sure what it was, but it was coming from Keiko- or the same area at least. Suddenly, I felt her or the baby's (I couldn't tell) energy spike up. Instinct took over, and I excused myself to find Yusuke. It took some doing but he agreed to take Keiko to the hospital. Keiko wasn't pleased by that, but Yusuke argued that it was about time for a check-up anyways. As Yusuke and Keiko left, Yusuke gave me special instructions to open the restaurant.

Once they were gone, I put a sign on the door saying that they had gone for a check-up and wouldn't be back until the lunch rush as I had been told. Then I walked into the restaurant and started to take the chairs down off the tables so I could wash the tables. I was just washing the last table when Botan burst through the door.

"Hello Tsukino-chan," she said.

I nodded and tried to ignore the pounding headache. "Hey Botan-chan."

She stared at me in the same way that Keiko had. "Chan… not san?"

"Well… I thought that since you and Keiko always call me chan, that I should return the favour since we're… friends, right?"

Botan grinned and gave me a hug. "I knew you'd come around! Speaking of round, where is Keiko?"

"At the hospital with Yusuke-san," I answered. "I'm covering the restaurant until they return."

"Has she gone into labour!?" Botan yelled.

I covered my ears. "No. No. I just thought it would be a good idea for a check up and Yusuke-san agreed."

Botan nodded. "That makes sense. Do you want any help?"

I shrugged. "The restaurant isn't really open."

"Then I'll keep you company."

I shrugged again. "Sounds good."

At that moment Kurama entered the restaurant. "Botan, why weren't you answering your communicator?" he demanded to know.

Botan laughed self-consciously. "Oopies, I think I left that back in the apartment."

Kurama just shook his head. "Yusuke just called from the hospital. Keiko's in labour."

Botan and I stared at Kurama for a second before Botan pointed at the door. "What are you waiting for!? You have to stop Yusuke from destroying that hospital!"

Again I covered my ears from the noise.

Kurama, on the other hand, tossed Botan his communicator and promised to keep us posted before running out the door.

"Aren't you going with him?" I asked as Botan grabbed the sign and made some changes.

"It'd be rather odd, don't you think, for a Grim Reaper to be at a birth?" she asked as she showed me her new sign. "What do you think?"

The new sign read, 'Closed until further notice due to owners' first child being born'.

I nodded. "Yes and good."

Botan nodded and then put the sign on the door before sitting down on a chair. "Yusuke's getting revved up," she randomly announced. "Now it's lowering and Kurama's there too. He must have ran instead of using his car."

"Really?" I asked as I sat down beside her. "How can you tell?"

"Simple. I can't sense their spirit energy. Can't you?" she asked.

I shook my head. "I can only sense it at very short distances. For some reason, I feel it more than sense it."

"What do you mean?"

I frowned as I tried to think up a way to describe it. "When I sense spirit energy it's like a very light breeze batting against my face. That's probably why I can only sense it at small distances."

Botan leaned forward. "What's mine like?"

I closed my eyes and concentrated for a second. "Bubbles," I finally said.

"What about Keiko's?"

I shrugged. "I never thought about it before, and she isn't here for me to sense."

"What about Yusuke's? Surely you can sense his without thinking."

I nodded. "He is like… feathers… no wait, that's Kuwabara-san's. Yusuke-san's is like… sound waves vibrating after a gun's been shot."

"Hiei's?"

"Like a breeze flying over lava."

"Yukina?"

"Cool breeze by the ocean."

"Genkai's?"

"I think it's sorta like how air would be like around an old tomb with traps. You know there is something powerful and old there, but you aren't sure what."

Botan suddenly grinned. "What about Kurama's?"

I fidgeted. "I'm not quite sure. For some reason, his energy is the only one I can't feel. I have to sense it."

"And what does it 'sense' like?"

I shrugged. "No idea."

Before Botan could ask me anymore questions, her communicator rang. She pulled it out and sat so that we could both look at the small screen. "Botan here," she said.

Yusuke's face appeared on the screen. "Botan, is Tsukino-san there?"

I waved from my spot. "Right here."

Yusuke nodded. "Great, I need to you do up a sign telling everything that we are close until-"

"Botan-chan already did that," I told him. "Any news on Keiko-chan?"

That seemed to knock him off balance but he recovered. "Nothing yet. We'll let you know when we know something. Can you two get the baby room ready though?"

"Which room is it?" Botan asked.

"Second one on the left," Yusuke told us.

"Right, you can count on us," Botan and I said as we turned off the mirror.

"Well my fellow detective," Botan joked as she turned to me. "To the baby's room we go."

We spent the rest of the day getting the room ready until Kurama contacted us after many hours to inform us the child was a girl who Yusuke and Keiko had named Rei. Kurama informed us that the doctors wanted to keep an eye on the child and mother because of the child's odd heartbeat, but he stressed that both Keiko and Rei were fine.

That night, Botan invited me to sleep over with at her and Kurama's apartment. Since I was still worried about Oshiro catching me off guard, I agreed. Needless to say, Botan and I really had a party that night, and poor Kurama had to live with it. Actually, I think he had fun as well because he offered me a room at his apartment since Keiko and Yusuke were going to be busy with little Rei. I thought about it overnight, and the next morning I gave him my answer. I said yes, and to this day, I wonder if it was the correct answer.

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**A/n: Obviously a short chapter but I think you can forgive me, right? I mean this **IS** the third chapter in three days. Forgive me?**

**Also I'm not 100% sure about the Yoko in Yoko Kurama being a title. I saw someone comment on a video once that said that it was a title like how Hiei was called a Jaganshi or something which meant 'owner of the jagan' or something. Anyways, I'm not sure about it so don't quote me.**

**-D101**


	12. You Are No Kit Of Mine

_Disclaimer: I am awesome! Hear me decree! I own Tsukino, my other OCs (now including Rei), the plot, and the poems! (Though nothing else.) Fear me!_

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_Recap:_ Yusuke and Keiko's child has been born and named Rei! Besides that happening, Tsukino is now living with Kurama and Botan! So much for Kurama keeping his distance.

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**Say It If It's Worth Saving Me  
****Chapter Twelve  
****Reliving the Nightmare**

Day Seventy-Seven

It took a while but Keiko and Rei are finally back home at the restaurant. The doctors were all worried because of Rei's irregular heart beat, but with some help from Rinku, Yusuke and I were able to 'fix' the machines. Because of that, the doctors were forced to let Keiko and Rei return home to the restaurant.

Little Rei looks just like her mother but has the strength of her father. We all quickly learned not to hold the child if we had something within her reach that she could pull. She seems to enjoy pulling on jewellery the most, but if that isn't available she will gladly pull on hair.

Keiko had thought that a child, who pulled on everything within reach, would be a great motivation for Tsukino to remain in her human form. Tsukino resisted a bit, not because she was worried about her own wellbeing but because she was worried about dropping the child. Keiko ignored Tsukino's fears and put Rei into the mixed demon's arms.

Rei cried a bit at first, sensing Tsukino's fear, which caused Tsukino to become more worried. It was actually quite amusing to be honest. The more upset Rei got, the more worried Tsukino became. And the more worried Tsukino became, the more upset Rei became, until the baby realized how funny Tsukino looked. When Rei realized this, she started giggling. This in turn caused Tsukino to look confused which was even funnier to Rei.

Then the child discovered Tsukino's tail, which was laying on her lap within reach of the baby. Rei reached over and gave it a tug, which caused Tsukino's ears to twitch in pain. When Rei saw Tsukino's ears move she wanted to 'pet' those as well. Tsukino, realizing where this was leading, transformed into her human form and quickly gave Rei a toy to distract her.

That was almost sixteen days ago and every day since then Tsukino has had the honour of rocking the child to sleep for her dinner-time nap. This night, Rei is resisting sleep much longer than usual. Once or twice Tsukino has flickered into her demon form and felt the child pull on something before she manages to transform back.

Finally, Rei settles down, but Tsukino is showing signs of overexerting herself. I'm about to offer to take the child when Tsukino flickers back into her demon form. Luckily for her, Rei has fallen asleep and hasn't noticed.

Tsukino lets out a sigh of relief and returns the child to Keiko before sitting down on the couch beside me. Over the pass month she seems to have given up on the childish attempt at being difficult around me. While she still won't answer all my questions, we can now hold a conversation without too much trouble and she seems comfortable around me. Because of that, I carefully move my arms so that she is able to lean against me so that she doesn't fall off the couch like the first time she held Rei.

Tsukino doesn't even seem to notice that she is leaning against me as she says, "Keiko-chan. You are evil."

Keiko just grins. "Look on the bright side. You don't have to deal with Rei's crying and Yusuke's snoring."

"I don't snore!" Yusuke shouts into the room from the kitchen as he made dinner.

This causes Rei to wake up.

At once, Tsukino notices and points to Botan who was previously cooing over the baby. "She can hold it!"

Unfortunately, Rei spots Tsukino and reaches out for her while making whining noises.

Botan giggles. "It looks like she wants you, Tsukino-chan."

Tsukino sighs and transforms into her human form again.

Keiko knows that Tsukino is too tired to move and walks over to hand Rei to Tsukino.

"Give Yusuke a kick from me while I get this one back to sleep," she tells Keiko.

Keiko nods and then leaves the room, just as Tsukino transforms back into a demon.

"Do you want me to take her?" I ask, knowing that Tsukino will not be able to transform anymore tonight.

She shakes her head with a sigh and says, "I'll just keep my tail and hair out of her reach."

I nod and pull her long hair out of reach of the baby. "Soon she'll want to play with your wings," I joke.

Tsukino turns her head to glare at me. "Don't even joke." Her glare is cut short as Rei grabs some of her hair and pulls.

Botan laughs as Tsukino and I try to get Rei to let go. "Perhaps glaring at Kurama was not the best thing to do," she says.

"Dinner-time," Yusuke announces as he and Keiko enter the room with the food.

To Tsukino's relief, the child lets go of her hair and starts whining for her father. Yusuke grins as he takes the baby from Tsukino.

"Looks like daddy's little girl is ready for bed," he says as he hands her to Keiko.

"Looks like daddy gets to put her to bed since he was the one who woke her up," Keiko replies as she hands the baby back.

Tsukino and Botan laugh at the look on Yusuke's face.

"Hang on! How was I supposed to know!? You just said that I snore, and I was defending myself."

Rei starts whining again, and Yusuke sighs. "Alright. I can see I'm outvoted." He leaves the room and then mutters, "Come Rei, let's leave the scary witch and her minions behind."

Unfortunately for him, not only did Tsukino, Botan, and I hear him, so did Keiko.

"What was that Yusuke?" she asks.

"Nothing," Yusuke quickly replies.

Keiko just shakes her head and starts passing out the food.

When Yusuke returns we all say, "Itadakimasu," and then start eating. When we are finished, Botan, Tsukino, and I stand to leave. Tsukino almost falls on her face though. Transforming must have taken more out of her than we thought.

"Tsukino-chan, are you alright?" Botan and Keiko ask.

She nods as she attempts to keep standing. "I'm fine… Just a bit dizzy." For some unknown reason, she giggles and then does something completely out of the character. She leans against me and grins at me. "Your eyes are pretty," she tells me.

We all stare at her. I would have thought she was drunk if I hadn't been with her all day.

"I think we'd better get her to bed. She must have lost too much energy and it is affecting her mind," Botan says as she leads the way to the door.

Since Tsukino is still unable to move on her own, I am forced to carry her. As we leave the Urameshis', Botan calls over her shoulder, "We'll let you know how she is tomorrow."

"Take care," Keiko shouts back. "And make sure that Tsukino-chan gets plenty of rest."

"I'll chain her to the bed if she refuses," Botan replies.

"Good, you can borrow from Keiko then," Yusuke says.

Keiko slaps her husband over the head before saying goodnight and returning inside.

The night is slightly cold, but Tsukino doesn't even notice as she has fallen asleep in my arms.

***

We make it to the apartment without a problem, but while Botan is unlocking the door Tsukino awakens slightly. She isn't awake enough for rational thought, but she is awake enough to nuzzle my chest looking for warmth against the cold. I fight down a blush and hope that Botan doesn't notice. Luckily, she doesn't since she is busy with the key, which is being stubborn about fitting into the lock.

Tsukino has started to shiver so I try to adjust my hold on her so that she is a bit warmer. Unfortunately, that means holding her closer to me, which causes my blush to deepen. Just when I thought I couldn't get any redder Botan opens the door and turns to me. I quickly look down and enter the apartment as quickly as possible without pushing Botan out of the way. I walk over to Tsukino's room and lay her on the bed before heading for my own bedroom, my face still looking at the floor.

Botan corners me before I get there and forces me to look up. By then my blush has died down a bit, but it is still noticeable.

"What happened while I was playing with the lock?" Botan demands to know.

"Nothing," I answer as I try to walk pass her and into my room.

"When why are you blushing?"

"I'm not blushing, Botan. You must be mistaken."

"Then what do you call it when your face is as red as a tomato?"

"Funny, the lighting in here must be off."

To my horror, Botan doesn't let up. She blocks my way again. "You like her, don't you?"

I avoid making eye contact. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

"You have a crush on Tsukino-chan."

I give her a glare. "Botan, we both know that is completely absurd."

Botan points at me, accusingly. "Admit it, Kurama. You have a crush on her."

I shake my head. "Botan, may I remind that we are on a mission? We cannot let our emotions get mixed into this."

Botan gives me a fake confused look. "Why not?"

She knows perfectly well why not but I answer anyways. "For all we know Tsukino-san could be part of the next plot to endanger all three worlds. If we allow ourselves to become attached it will be harder to fight against her."

"And what if she isn't?"

I understand now why Botan asked the question she knew the answer to. It was just part of her plan to make a point. "If she isn't then we are no worse than we started. We can return her to Demon World and move on. Now I have a meeting tomorrow and have to go to bed. Good night, Botan."

This time she allows me to enter my room and prepare for sleep. But while Botan may be silent, her points keep coming to my mind.

Had I really allowed my emotions to get tangled in the case? And why was Tsukino acting so strangely?

* * *

_White Page, White Page  
__Trapped in a Dream_

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The Dream

"Tsukino-chan!" I heard someone shout, but I was unable to reply. I was having that dream again. Not the one with the two figures on the roof, though I wish I was. That dream at least allowed me to wake up and only one of the people was trying to kill me.

The dream I was having though was merciless. In it I was barely two months old but already the equality of a human six year old thanks to my bat demon blood. All kinds of demons were surrounding me, all of them pure blood.

Fear gripped me as I tried to run, but I was grabbed by the shoulder and pulled back to the circle. The demons pulled out weapons and raised them threateningly at me. Before they managed to hurt me, I charged the circle and managed to break free.

I ran and kept running for almost four blocks before I crashed into someone. A familiar scent hit my nose and I looked into the face of the demon who I recognized as my mother. Instinct gripped me, and I hugged her leg.

"Mother!" I said in a small mew.

The cat demon with flowing black hair and cold green eyes hissed at me as she roughly pushed me away. "Filth! You are no kitten of mine."

I fell against a wall and felt something in me die. The part of my mind that was slightly conscious felt the pain rip through me again when my dream self realized that my mother hated me.

Then my dream self had to run again. The demons from before had appeared. I tried to run, but my birth mother grabbed me and threw me at the ground before them.

"Enjoy the meal," she said to the demons as she walked away leaving me to my death.

One demon grabbed my arm, and I screamed for help. I begged my mother to save me. I promised to do better.

My mother stopped for a moment and turned back. For a second, I dared to hope until she spoke.

"You are filth. You can never do better nor will you ever be saved. Even if you live through this somehow you will meet your end somehow. No one cares for you, and no one ever will. If they seem to, they are only pretending. Simply put, you aren't worth saving."

That said, my birth mother walked into another alley and out of my life for good.

In my childish ignorance, I screamed for her to forgive me for whatever I had done. Begged her to come back.

She didn't and the demons started to rip at my flesh. Tears ran down my face as the dream neared the worst part. I felt teeth start to rip into the flesh of my arm and teeth hovering over my neck. With a scream, I waited for the blood to flow. Whose blood, I'm still not sure of.

Suddenly, I was ripped way from the dream and became aware of the hands on my arms, and someone shaking me. I opened my eyes and realized that my face was wet with my own tears. For a moment, I feel numb as I slowly realized that the dream was over. That someone had finally managed to wake me.

I looked to the person who was still holding my arms and came face to face with green eyes. Fear flowed through my system as I quickly pulled myself away and pushed myself against the wall. I heard her words in my head again. 'You aren't worth saving.'

A fresh wave of tears ran down my face as the pain hit like a tidal wave. I longed for someone to comfort me, but deep down I knew that no one will. Then I felt arms wrap around me, and someone whispering to me that it was okay. I continue to cry until there were no more tears.

Finally, I fell back to sleep and fate was merciful enough to grant me a dreamless one.

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_White Page, White Page  
__Waking With a Scream_

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Day Seventy-Eight

Her screams are still echoing in my ears as I leave the room. Whatever nightmare she had, it was enough to reduce her to tears. At least Botan is able to comfort her.

I start to make some tea to calm my nerves and wait for Botan to explain to me what happened. As I wait, I make theories about what Tsukino dream was about.

She was frightened of me for some reason when she awoke. Did that mean that I was in the dream? Or reminded her of someone in the dream? Probably the latter because she was muttering, 'I'll do better… Please help me.' The person must not have helped her because she awoke screaming. Was she attacked?

My thoughts end as Botan enters the room.

"She's asleep now," Botan informs me as she gets herself a glass of water.

"Did she mention what the dream was about?"

Botan shook her head. "Not a word." She took a sip of her water. "I'm worried, Kurama. Whatever the dream was about; it was enough to make her afraid of you."

I sip my tea. "I doubt it would take much to make her cautious of me. She still doesn't trust me."

"She trusts you enough to stay in the same apartment as you."

I say nothing and take a sip of my tea. Once I have finished drinking, I set my cup down in the sink and walk towards my room. There is still time to get some more sleep before I have to get ready for the meeting.

"Good night, Botan."

"Night Kurama," she replies as she returns to her own room.

As I walk to mine, I pass Tsukino's room. I peek inside to make sure that she is all right and see that her face is red from crying. For some reason, I felt guilty. Somehow, I had caused some of those tears to form. I caught myself wishing that I was able to comfort her and quickly walked away from her door.

I wasn't getting attached. I **couldn't** get attached. It was far too dangerous for me to get attached to her. I was the only one besides Hiei who still had some distance between himself and her. If I got attached, and she truly was on an enemies side, that would mean Hiei would be fighting on his own while the rest of us feel the pain of betrayal.

A memory closely related to my time with Kuronue starts to worm its way to the surface of my mind, but I force it back before I can properly think about it. I don't need that memory clouding my judgement.

I'm **not** getting attached.

* * *

**A/N: I'm not sure I'll be updating for a while so I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! And my note for this chapter: Kurama was holding Tsukino bridal system but since I can't picture him saying that, I didn't point that out.**

**Anyways, thank you for reading this chapter and reviewing for previous chapters. Please review and I'll try to update when I can.**

**-D101**


	13. We need Kazuma

_Disclaimer: I owned YYH once but then the lawyers appeared and took the copyrights. I managed to steal the rights back for my OCs, plot, and poems though._

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_Recap:_ After a tiring night of rocking Rei to sleep, Tsukino doesn't even have enough energy to stand and seems to be losing her mind. So Kurama, being the gentleman that he is carries her back to his and Botan's apartment. Once inside, Kurama lays Tsukino down in her room and leaves. He is quickly cornered by Botan, who is convinced that Kurama has a crush on Tsukino. Kurama denies this and goes to bed. During the night, Tsukino has a dream and awakes frightened. Botan comforts her until the mixed breed falls asleep. After a short talk with Kurama, she and he return to sleep as well.

* * *

**Say It If It's Worth Saving Me  
****Chapter Thirteen  
****A Decision to Make**

One Truth Revealed

The morning after my dream I awoke to the sounds of talking coming from the kitchen.

"Still asleep?" I heard Kurama ask.

The person he was talking to must have nodded because he continued talking. "Perhaps we should leave so that she'll be able to rest."

I heard Botan ask, "What if she has another nightmare?"

There was silence for a few seconds. During that time, I managed to get out of bed and make my way to the kitchen. I stop just outside the kitchen as I hear Kurama reply.

"I'll come home right after my meeting and check on her. Then I'll stay home," he said.

"Should I call Keiko, or just walk over and tell her I'm filling in for Tsukino-chan?"

"I suggest calling. There is less of a chance of her waking up if you call rather than Keiko calling here demanding to know if she is alright."

I entered the kitchen at this point. "Morning," I said as I sat down in my usual chair.

Kurama gave me a concerned look as I sat down across from him. I look away from his eyes. After that nightmare, anything green was only going to remind me of my mother. The fact that Kurama's eyes were green and… eyes wasn't helping. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Just tired."

"I was just suggesting calling Keiko and telling her that I would be working instead of you," Botan said.

I gave her a confused look. "Why? I can work. I'm fine, just tired."

Botan was just about to reply when the phone rang. I covered my cat ears as a headache started to form.

Kurama answered the phone as quickly as he could and after listening for a moment, handed it to me. "It's Keiko."

I took the phone. "Hello?" I asked.

"How are you feeling, Tsukino-chan?" Keiko asked from the other end.

"Just a bit tired but fine."

"You could take the day off if you wanted if you are still drained. Yusuke can handle the restaurant on his own."

"That's very kind of you but I'll come in if I can."

"What do you mean? 'If you can'?"

"I'm getting the vibe from Botan-chan that she's going to chain me to my bed if I try to leave the house," I feebly joked.

"Then you'd better stay home. Botan's a healer, she knows what's best."

I shook my head. "Keiko-chan! Not you too! I'm perfectly fine, just tired."

"You were delusional when you left here."

I paused before I replied. "What do you mean?"

"You told Kurama had he had pretty eyes."

I just sighed.

A while ago, Botan and Keiko had tricked me into playing Truth or Dare. Luckily, Yusuke and Kurama walked in and accidentally stopped the game before anything really bad could happen. Unfortunately for me, before that Botan and Keiko asked me what I liked about Kurama. I answered his eyes, because at the time, they didn't remind me of my mother.

Anyways, I decided to play along with Keiko's joke and said, "Well, I'm not delusional now so I can work right?"

"If you are working, you are going to be cooking, not walking around and Kurama is giving you a lift over and back so that you don't put too much stress on yourself."

I paled. "Keiko-chan. I'm sure that he's busy. And I can walk just fine. There is no need to-"

"That is the only way you are going to be working, and you will only be working in the morning. I'll give you an hour to decide which is the lesser evil. Staying home with Botan all day, or getting a ride from Kurama."

Before I could say anything, Keiko hung up.

I handed the phone back to Kurama since he had to make a call and tried to decide. Botan was nice, but she often got bored of staying in one spot. It wasn't fair to do that to her. At the same time, I refused to take a lift from Kurama. It was a matter of pride. I was fit and able to walk, and it was only going to trouble him. For a second, I wondered if I could somehow fake getting a ride from Kurama.

"So what did Keiko say?" Botan asked as she placed food in front of me.

"She says I have an hour to decide whether I'm working or not," I replied as I eat.

"Why so much time?"

I sighed and then said, "Because I'll only be cooking in the morning and I have to get a ride to and from there with Kurama-san."

Botan gave a cat grin. "Oh is that all?"

In the short time, I knew Botan I learned to fear for my sanity when she gave me that grin. I was right to be afraid because the first thing Botan said when Kurama re-entered the room to replace the phone was:

"Tsukino-chan needs a lift to and from Yusuke's if she is going to work."

Kurama stared a Botan for a moment before asking me, "How long are you working?"

"Only the morning," I muttered, completely defeated.

He nodded. "That should work. I'm going out now, but I can give you lift in about forty-five minutes and then pick you up after the meeting."

Botan grabbed my arm before I could say anything. "She'll meet you in the lobby in forty."

Kurama nodded and went out the front door. Botan, on the other hand, followed me to my room. Once we were both inside the room, she closed and locked the door. Then she pointed to my bed.

"Sit," she commanded me.

Now normally, I wouldn't have listened and would have just gotten ready for the day, but there was something seriously off about Botan that morning. I sat down on the bed like a common dog.

She sat down beside me and gave me a serious look, which really didn't match her. "Kurama won't admit this, so I'll just tell you. You really scared him last night, and he wants to help in any way he can."

I stared at her in shock but overcame it quickly. "It was just a dream Botan. I just tired myself out last night and had a nightmare."

"Not even using up all your energy transforming can make you delusional."

I twitched. "So what Keiko-chan said was true?"

Botan nodded. "So what caused that?"

I started to shrug when a thought hit me. "I doubt that is the reason, but…"

"But?" Botan urged me.

I realized what I had said my thoughts aloud. "It's nothing," I quickly told Botan. She didn't need to know. No one needed to know.

"Tsukino-chan," Botan said with a frown. "If you tell me what is wrong maybe I can fix it."

I shook my head. No one could fix it. It was probably just a result of messed up genetics. Nothing important and nothing that could be changed.

"Tsukino-chan," Botan urged me again.

I realized that she wasn't going to go away unless I explained. With a sigh, I tried to explain. My sentences were hesitant because I wasn't sure what was wrong with me. "Every since I turned seventeen I have been acting oddly during certain weeks."

"Oddly as in what?"

"I become more aware of the males around me."

Botan just stared at me completely confused. "Meaning?"

I sighed. "From what I've seen, I'm on the look out for possible mates."

"That seems normal."

I shake my head. "Botan-chan, when I say on the lookout, I mean if given the chance, I, theoretically, could end up mated to someone I just met."

"You mean that bite?" She pointed to my throat where my scar was visible.

I gave her a confused look. "What about it? It's just a bite I got a few years ago."

"But it still hasn't disappeared."

I nodded. "I'm not even sure what this is from but I'm sure that it has nothing to do with mating. Even though I don't even know how the process works, I'm positive this bite wasn't from a heated night of 'fun'."

Botan nodded. "Okay, so how do you avoid ending up mated?"

"In Demon World, I just avoid everyone. Here, I didn't have that chance. Luckily, I spent most of my time attempting to remain in my human form. For some reason, the problem doesn't transfer over to my human form."

"How do you know when this problem is over?"

"I get a headache thirty-three days after I'm out of the danger zone."

"And when is the danger zone?"

"The first week in Hraru."

"Hraru?"

"Demon World calendar. On the Human calendar, I'm like this first week of April."

"So that time at the mall?"

I shook my head. "It was too early. I'm not sure what happened."

"Could it be your inner demon reacting to Kurama?"

I shook my head. "My inner demon has been screaming at me to avoid him."

"That doesn't make any sense."

I nodded. "I know. If Kurama-san was a cat or bat demon then I could see my inner demon reacting and acting out of order while it's not in the danger zone."

"But Kurama is a fox demon."

I nodded and we fell silent until I managed to ask the question I had been dreading the answer to. "Botan-chan, have I done anything else odd around Kurama-san?"

"Well you did cause him to blush as we were entering the apartment."

"And… how exactly did I do that?" I asked in a small voice.

Botan suddenly jumped off the bed. "You should get dressed."

"Botan-chan?"

"You don't want to keep Kurama waiting."

"Botan-chan," I said in a threatening voice. "What did I do?"

She gave me a fake smile. "You shouldn't ask questions you don't want answers to."

I sighed. "If you tell me, I'll tell you about the dream."

Botan nodded and sat down again. "You get dressed. I'll tell you as you get ready."

I nodded and got off the bed listening as Botan told me what had happened last night. When I was finally dressed I sat back down on the bed.

"So I nuzzled him?" I slowly asked.

Botan nodded.

"And said that his eyes were pretty?"

She nodded again.

I groaned and fell backwards onto my bed. "Damn it! He's getting mixed signals now!"

"I think Kurama realizes that you aren't in your right mind while you are acting like that."

"Actually, he probably thinks that when I'm like that I'm showing my true feelings!"

"And are you?"

"Of course not!"

Botan nodded but she wasn't smiling. "Then no problem, because from what I know, Kurama just thinks that you were delusional. And besides, your reaction to him last night was enough to give him the message."

I paused in mid-rant. "What do you mean?" I asked.

"Do you remember anything about last night?"

I shivered. "I remember the dream and waking up to see her eyes looking at me."

"Her?"

I shivered again. "It will make more sense if I tell you the dream." So I told her the dream. By the end of it, Botan was nodding as if she had just found the last piece of a puzzle.

"Kurama was the one who woke you up," Botan explained. "You must have mistaken his eyes for your mother's. When he saw how scared you were of him he backed off right away and left the room." She got up and walked over to the door. "He was really worried about you," she added as a side note before she left.

I nodded and continued getting ready for the day. Once I was ready, I walked down the lobby where Kurama met me with his car. As I got into the car, I forced myself to look at his eyes. I noticed that unlike my mother's, his eyes, though cold, weren't cold with hatred. His were cold with distance and hidden deeply inside was also pain. Almost as if he was distant so that he didn't bring any pain to himself or anyone else.

We reached the restaurant and I got out. Kurama told me the time he would pick me up and then drove off. As he drove away, I silently wondered if he had been betrayed at some point in his life.

* * *

_White Page, White Page  
__Fear In His Eyes  
__White Page, White Page  
__Reflecting My Demise_

* * *

Day Seventy-Eight

There is a saying that states time moves faster when you are having fun. It almost moves faster when you are trying to do many things at once. Such as serving four different tables at the same time.

My meeting took two and a half hours so I had some time to waste afterwards. Instead of remaining at the company to do paperwork, I drove to the restaurant. Once there I was surprised to see that the place was very busy. Usually, at eleven o'clock the restaurant was quiet.

Noticing that Botan had come over and was helping out, I decided to give a hand as well. I walked over to the kitchen and picked up a plate of food that Tsukino had just placed on the counter.

"Which table does this go to?" I asked.

Tsukino looked over and didn't even ask what I was talking about. She just pointed to a table by the windows. "The ramen is for the man with the red hat."

I nodded and delivered the food. On my way back to the kitchen, I took a few orders as well. I gave them to Tsukino and went to find Yusuke. I found him taking orders as well.

"Hey Kurama," Yusuke said as he walked back to the kitchen. "I hope you aren't here to place an order because it could take a while."

"What exactly is going on?"

"Dunno. A lot of people from out of town though. I wonder if there is a concert happening or something."

I nodded. "Why don't you help Tsukino-san in the kitchen? I'll take orders and deliver the food."

Yusuke nodded and ran off to the kitchens.

For the next few hours, we were all kept busy until the rush finally died down at around two o'clock.

Now Botan, Yusuke, Tsukino, and I are sitting in the empty restaurant drinking some tea Keiko has made.

"I've never seen it that busy before," Keiko comments.

Tsukino nods and then gives Keiko a smile. "See, you should have let me be a waitress. It would have been less stress."

Keiko sits down beside her and whispers something into her ear. (Tsukino is in her demon form.) I am unable to hear it, but from the look on Tsukino's face, she is being blackmailed.

"I'm just amazed that everyone was so understanding," Botan says as she plays with Rei. "It was almost as if they all knew each other and were just taking in the sights. That big guy in the corner mentioned looking for something though."

Tsukino stops in mid-sip when Botan mentions the man. "What did he look like exactly?" she asks.

"Not really sure. He had sunglasses on and black hair. He was sitting over in the far corner. For some reason, he reminded me of younger Toguro."

As Botan gives a description of the man, I watch Tsukino's face. For a second, a flicker of fear enters her eyes before it is covered. Is this man the one who is after her? Is he part of a group? Perhaps I am getting ahead of myself. I don't even know if anyone **is** after her. All we have at this time are suspicions.

Yusuke also notices the look that flickered on Tsukino's face, but he makes no comment except that it was time for Tsukino to go home and rest.

Tsukino resists at first, saying that she is just fine, but we can all see that she is tired. Botan offers to return to the apartment with Tsukino so that I can visit with the Urameshis.

"I was planning on taking a nap anyways," Botan says.

After learning that fact, Tsukino slowly gives in and leaves the restaurant with Botan.

Keiko returns upstairs with Rei to feed her and leaves Yusuke and me alone.

"So any news from Hiei?" Yusuke asks once he is sure Keiko can't hear.

I shake my head. "I'm afraid not. It's been over two months since he went to check on Koenma. I must admit, I'm worried."

Yusuke nods. "Well… maybe Koenma forced him to help out with the paperwork. I mean, the guy is supposedly drowning in it. Maybe Hiei was just at the wrong place at the wrong time and was forced to help."

For a moment, I picture Hiei sitting at a desk stamping papers. It is amusing enough to lift my spirits a bit. "Somehow, I think Hiei would rather burn the papers than stamp them."

Yusuke grins. "True." He grins fades quickly though. "So what do you think about the Toguro look-a-like? Tsukino-san seemed worried."

I nod. "I agree. There is something we are missing, and we need to find out what."

Yusuke's grin returns, confusing me. "I guess you'll just have to turn on the charm."

I shake my head. "By now I would have thought that you would have learned that that won't work."

Yusuke's face grew triumphant. "Ah but I figured out what was wrong with the plan!"

"Very well, what was wrong with your plan?"

"You were faking. Since she is a cat, she could sense that and saw your intentions. But now that you care about her, you can ask her because you are genuinely curious and worried about her safety."

"I fail to see where you came to the conclusion that I care about her."

"It's obvious! Why else would you flip out when she tries to get close to you?"

"Perhaps because she has a mate?"

"Why is she hitting on you if she has one then?"

"She isn't flirting with me."

"Then what **is** she doing?"

I sigh and start to explain my theory. "I'm not quite sure, but if my theory is correct, it would explain why she says she doesn't have a mate and her behaviour."

"Alright, let's hear that theory."

I explain slowly so that Yusuke isn't able to misinterpret anything. "Usually, when a demon is marked, that means that they are taken, correct?"

Yusuke nods.

"The next step would be to mate, much like the human marriage. You have the ceremony and then the honeymoon."

Yusuke nods. "So?"

I pause for a second to think about how to word my next sentence. "Pretend that the there is a demon pair who have just marked each other. Before they can mate, one of them dies. What do you think would happen?"

Yusuke shrugs. "The living demon mourns and moves on?"

I shake my head. "While that may be the case sometimes, there is another possibility. The living demon could revert back to their animal instincts."

"Which are?"

I sigh and point out the obvious. "To find another mate."

Yusuke gives me a confused look. "Isn't that what I said?"

I shake my head again. "When I say revert to their instincts, I mean during certain seasons, spring usually, the living demon would try to seduce another demon."

"In other words, sleeping with the first demon they see?"

"Possibly."

Yusuke is silent for a moment and then says, "Looks like you might not need to turn on the charm to get the information."

I glare at him. "Yusuke, Botan has a far better chance at learning what is happening with Tsukino-san."

Yusuke nods. "But Botan and Keiko refuse to tell us anything. Looks like your plan wasn't so brilliant, fox-boy."

Admittedly, both plans have many flaws. "I suppose we'll just have to wait then."

"And hope that that Toguro look-a-like isn't after her," Yusuke adds.

A thought suddenly strikes me. I'm about to voice it when we hear a scream that we both recognize.

"Botan!" Yusuke shouts.

Keiko appears at the bottom of the stairs. Before she can ask any questions, Yusuke and I run out the door.

"We'll be back," I shout over my shoulder.

"How could we have been so stupid?" Yusuke demands to know. "We knew that someone was after Tsukino-san, and we just let her walk outside the house with only Botan to protect her."

"Let's just find them," I reply as we keep running.

We find them in the parking lot to the apartment. Botan is sitting on the ground beside an unconscious Tsukino.

"What happened?" Yusuke demands to know as I look around for anything that is out of place.

Botan is shivering. "I don't know. We were talking, and then Tsukino-chan mentioned feeling like something stung her. And then she just collapsed."

Yusuke nods and kneels down by Tsukino. He looks down at her and then looks up to me. Suddenly, he points over my shoulder. "Kurama!"

I spin around and spot the demon that Yusuke sees.

The demon, knowing that it has been spotted, makes a run for it.

"Stay here. I'll go after it," I say before I chase after the demon. If it caused Tsukino to faint, it will pay.

The demon runs onto the street and surrounds itself with humans. I find it in the mob within seconds and continue the chase. Unfortunately, I'm unable to run at my top speed due to the humans surrounding me.

Luckily, the demon runs into the park where there are less people. I follow and increase my speed. As I chase, my communicator rings. I pull it out and see that Yusuke is looking at me in worry.

"Kurama, Tsukino-san doesn't have a pulse."

I shake my head and keep my eyes on the demon I'm chasing. "Demons don't have pulses, Yusuke."

"I know that! I sensed for her demonic pulse and couldn't find anything! She isn't breathing either!"

The demon runs back into a mob of people. I'm tempted to follow and chase it down since it must know something, but with Tsukino in that condition…

"Botan and I also found a dart in the skin on Tsukino-san's neck."

I made my decision quickly. I turned off the communicator and ran back to the parking lot. When I arrive, I see that Tsukino is no longer laying on the ground.

"Botan took Tsukino-san to the apartment and is healing her," Yusuke says when he sees me looking around. He hands me the dart. "That demon you were chasing must have shot it at her. What kind of poison do you think they used?"

I nod and look over the dart. "It wasn't filled with poison, Yusuke. It was filled with energy."

Yusuke stares at me in confusion. "Energy? What for?"

I shake my head and pull out my cell. I dial the number for my apartment and hope that Botan will answer.

"Moushi moushi?" she asks after the second ring. She sounds tired and worried.

"Botan, how are you healing Tsukino-san?"

She sounds confused. "The same way a healer heals poison…?"

I shake my head. "Then stop what you are doing right now. Do you recall when Hiei tried to turn Keiko into a demon?"

Yusuke, who was overhearing, says, "Kurama, I think you have some screws lose. Tsukino-san is already a demon. She can't transform into one."

Botan overhears Yusuke's comment and adds, "Yusuke's right."

I shake my head. "She's not turning into a demon; she's turning into another **type **of demon. And I don't think she'll survive the experience if we don't act quickly."

Before anyone can say anything, I continue, "Botan, you have to try to buy us some time. Do the same thing you did for Keiko on that day as long as you can. Yusuke and I are going to find an antidote."

"Alright. I'll try to stop the transformation as long as I can," Botan says before hanging up the phone.

I put away my cell phone and turn to Yusuke.

"Okay, how are we going to find the antidote?" he asks.

"We need to find owner of this energy," I say as I show him the dart. "Get a blood sample, and then I'll be able to make an antidote."

Yusuke stares at me. "You act as if this has happened to you before."

I give him a grim look. "It has."

He nods. "Figures. And how are we going to find this demon? He got away from you, remember? And we can't even sense the signal of the energy that was in the dart. How are we supposed to find the match?"

I look over to the window of my apartment and then back to Yusuke. "We need to find Kazuma."

* * *

**A/N: Nice long chapter for you. I had fun writing the last part but I think Kurama was a bit OOC, then again, someone he believes he doesn't care for is in danger. I dunno.**

**Anyways, I couldn't get a hold of you Silverwing013, so here is my reply to your review. "Yes, denial is a beautiful thing. It makes messing with Kurama's mind all the easier. Thanks for the review and reading!"**

**And I would also like to thank all of you for reading this far, and reviewing for previous chapters. I hope you will continue to read and hopefully enjoy, and review.**

**-D101**


	14. Not Worried, Just Apprehensive

_Disclaimer: I am a fan who owns only the plot, OCs, and poems in this story._

* * *

_Recap: _After a busy morning of working at the restaurant, Botan, Tsukino, Yusuke, and Kurama are ready for a break and maybe a good nap. Their time to relax is cut short when Tsukino falls unconscious and stops breathing due to a dart that injected demonic energy into her system. Now the detectives only have minutes to find the demon responsible and create an antidote. First thing first, they have to find Kuwabara.

* * *

**Say It If It's Worth Saving Me  
****Chapter Fourteen  
****The Walls Start Crumpling**

Day Seventy-Eight

"If I knew we were going to go on a wild goose chase today, I would have stayed in bed," Yusuke says as he and I run to the school where Kazuma is teaching.

"He isn't answering his cell. He must be in class," I say as I put away my own cell phone and pull out my communication mirror. Yusuke takes it from me before I can speak into it.

"Allow me," he says with a smirk before he starts yelling at the mirror. "Yo! Idiot! Pick up the mirror! We have a situation here!"

To Yusuke's surprise, Kazuma actually turns on his mirror. "This had better be important, I was right in the middle of a lesson."

"Oh yeah, because teaching kids how to read is way more important than helping us save Tsukino-san's life!" Yusuke shouts sarcastically.

"What's wrong with her?" Kazuma asks.

"Meet us at the park by the school, we'll explain there," I say.

Kazuma nods. "I'll be there in a second," he says.

Yusuke smirks and turns off the mirror. "And so well we. Let's go."

I nod, and we both start running our fastest.

***

Kazuma is at the park when we arrive, and we quickly explain. I hand him the dart, and Kazuma concentrates.

"The demon is moving, but he seems to be moving towards your apartment Kurama."

Both Yusuke and I trade a look. Yusuke is worried, and I feel foolish.

"Thank you, Kazuma. We'll inform you if anything changes," I say as Yusuke and I ready to run back to my apartment.

"You two better not hold back. That guy is giving off a huge amount of bloodlust," Kazuma informs us.

We nod and then start running back to the apartment. Twice we are forced to jump over cars as we cross the road in between lights.

"Today just isn't our day, is it?" Yusuke demands to know.

I nod. "At least this will make it easier to give her the antidote once it's done."

Yusuke must have thought he heard worry in my voice because he says, "Don't worry, Kurama. I'm sure we'll save her in time."

I decide not to tell him that I'm not worried, just apprehensive.

***

"Botan! Tsukino-san!" Yusuke shouts as he kicks down the door.

I decide not to point out that I could have unlocked it, and instead look around for Botan and Tsukino. The inside of the apartment is a mess. It looks almost as if someone had been searching for something and wasn't able to find it.

I take another look around and don't notice any blood. Feeling somewhat relieved, I say, "Yusuke, you check the bathroom, Botan's room, and Tsukino-san's room. I'll check the kitchen, living room, and my room."

Yusuke nods, and we start our search. In the kitchen and living room, I find nothing. Starting to feel concern again, I enter my room. Nothing had been touched. By the looks of things, the demon intruder hadn't gotten to this room yet. Or he is hiding somewhere in here.

Carefully, I look behind and under everything. When I find nothing, I turn to the closet. I'm about to open it when I hear a noise inside, and the scent of blood hits my nose. Her blood.

I throw open the doors, and something leaps at me with a baseball bat in hand. I catch the bat just before it hits me my head and glare at my attacker. My glare softens when I see who it is.

"Kurama?" Botan asks. Her will to attack disappears, and she points to Tsukino who I notice is in the closet. "She's getting worse, and I can't stop the transformation anymore!"

Tsukino is getting worse. It is clear that she isn't breathing, she's covered in cuts, and she has been coughing up blood.

"The energy must be forcing her body to make new blood and is forcing the original out of her body," I think aloud.

"Do you have the antidote?" Botan asks.

I shake my head. "We haven't found the demon yet."

"Kurama!" Yusuke shouts from one of the other rooms. "Kurama! He's coming your way!"

I push Botan out of the way, as a demon runs through the door and into my room. The demon has green skin, pink eyes and no hair. He stares at me for a second before lunging at me with a knife. I dodge, and he makes a run for the closet.

Realizing that he wants to attack Tsukino, I reach for my rose whip in my sleeve. Before I am able to summon it, Botan whacks the demon over the head with her bat, and he hits the floor. Not wasting a second to explain my actions, I take the knife and cut the demons finger. Then, taking a seed out of the hidden pocket in my sleeve, I will it to grow. It does so, and within seconds I am holding a bluish green plant with small heart shaped leaves. I rub the demon's blood over one of the leaves, and then walk over to Tsukino who is growing pale. From the top shelve of my closet, I grab my small emergency kit, and some rope. Then I pull out another seed.

While I was doing this, Yusuke had entered the room. I turned to him and Botan and give them the kit and the rope. "Be ready," is the only thing I have time to tell them. I turn my attention back to Tsukino and put the seed into her mouth. Then I cover her mouth with the small blood covered leaf. Finally, I start to chancel my energy through the leaf and into her body, willing all exterior energy to be removed from her and into the seed.

***

It was a slow process, but finally Tsukino was free of any energy that was trying to harm her. Part way through the process, the demon awoke and found himself tied up with the rope I had given Yusuke. For some reason, he felt the need to make a fuss, but Botan quickly quieted him down.

Once I was finish removing all the negative energy, Botan got to work on bandaging Tsukino. Yusuke and I left the room while she did that and started to get to work cleaning up the apartment.

We are just now finishing cleaning the apartment, and Yusuke has just remembered that he has to call Keiko. While he makes a phone call to his wife, Botan enters the kitchen area.

"She's sleeping now," she informs us.

Yusuke and I nod, and I ask, "And her injuries?"

"The bleeding has stopped, but she'll be tired for a while. She lost a lot of blood before you two arrived. Speaking of that, what should we do with the demon?"

Yusuke grins as he hangs up the phone. "I think it's time we got some answer, Kurama," he says as he cracks his knuckles.

I nod. "We locked him in the bathroom so that he can't escape. Yusuke and I were just going to talk to him now."

Botan nods. "Well I'm off to take a nap. Let me know what you learn."

We both nod and make our way to where we locked up the demon. When we enter we see the demon tugging at the ropes in a desperate attempt at escape.

"Struggling isn't going to help you now," I tell him.

The demon stops pulling at the ropes and looks at Yusuke and me.

Yusuke wastes no time. "Alright freak, why did you attack her?" he asks.

The demon is silent but shaking.

"Well?"

"Master ordered it," the demon quietly says.

"Who is your master?" I ask.

The demon shakes his head and is still shaking. Something doesn't feel right.

"Girl will die soon," the demon tells us.

"What do you mean?"

The demon suddenly grins and then his eyes role up into his skull. He falls to the ground, dead. My nose catches the scent of poison.

"What the hell just happened?" Yusuke demands to know.

"He poisoned himself and was tugging at the ropes to make his blood flow faster," I patiently explain.

"Why would he do that?"

"Who knows," I say as we walk out of the bathroom. "But even if we don't know why, we know that someone is after Tsukino-san. We'll have to be more careful from now on."

* * *

_Black Page, Black Page  
__Remaining By Her Side_

* * *

The First Mistake

I awoke the morning after Botan spotted a man, who I was sure was Stato, and was surprised to find myself in Kurama's bed. For a second, I panicked, wondering if my demonic instincts had gotten the better of me. Slowly I realized that I was still clothed and covered in bandages. Before I could even think about remembering the day before, I became aware of another person entering the room.

"Good you're awake," Kurama said when he saw me sitting up. "How are you feeling?"

I shrugged. "Confused, I guess. What happened?" I asked.

Kurama didn't answer for a moment as he sat down at the foot of the bed and put his hand on my forehead. When he did answer, it wasn't what I was expecting. "You're running a fever but that's to be expected. A demon used a dart to inject his demonic energy into you in an attempt to transform you into another type of demon."

My mind flashed back to the creatures who had attacked me at Genkai's. Stato wasn't kidding when he said that was my last chance. Oshiro must have given the order to run experiments on me. What was worse was that they knew where to find me.

I realized that Kurama was still talking and listened as he continued to explain. "Luckily, Yusuke and I were able to find the demon and were able to reverse the process."

"Don't be modest, Kurama. If you hadn't used your plants, she would be dead right now. I was just watching in the background," Yusuke commented as he entered the room. He walked over to the bed and petted my head. "How you feeling, Kitty-bat?"

Kurama looked at me. Though his face didn't show any confusion, his eyes did.

I sighed. "Keiko calls me her not teenaged daughter, and Yusuke calls me Kitty-bat. And I'm feeling fine Yusuke-kun."

Unlike Keiko and Botan, Yusuke didn't make a big deal about the change in suffix. "I don't know. You looked really bad when I came in, Tsukino-chan. Kurama almost-" Yusuke stopped talking for some reason, and I looked at Kurama for an explanation.

Kurama didn't give me one but instead said, "Yusuke, how is the ramen coming?"

That seemed to remind Yusuke of something important because he made a run for the kitchen.

I gave Kurama a confused look, and he explained that Yusuke knew that he didn't like to have the kitchen messy.

I accepted that and then asked, "So what else did I miss?"

Kurama sighed. "Tsukino-san, we know that someone is after you." He watched my face closely as he told me this.

I decided to give it up and nodded. "I know."

"And you didn't tell us." It wasn't a question, more like a statement of fact.

I nodded. "I thought that the disguise would throw them off. Obviously it didn't."

I was sure that he was going to ask about what they wanted, but to my surprise he didn't. Instead, Kurama stood up.

"You'd better get some more rest. You lost a lot of blood." Then he left the room.

I decided to listen and lay back down on the bed. Within seconds I was asleep and trapped in dreams of my subconscious design. This dream was just as bad as my dream in which I saw my mother.

At first, I was in a park and everything seemed fine. I mean, there were birds, squirrels, everything you would usually see in a Human World park. Squirrels ran across the path in front of me as I walked. Everything was peaceful and safe.

But then the dream changed. The park began a dark forest, once that I recognized from my time as a child, barely one month old. Usually, that would mean I would be one month old in my dream, but this time I was twenty-five. The trees seemed to close in on me, and I started running. There was no sound except for my running footsteps.

Suddenly, a scream ripped through the forest. I felt my blood turn to ice as I ran in the direction of the scream. When I arrived at the spot I discovered a horrible sight. Keiko, Rei, and Botan were all on the ground, bleeding heavily. I ran over to them, demanding to know who had done that to them.

"Don't you remember?" a voice asked.

I turned around and came face to face with a man that I recognized from Genkai's temple. Hiei.

"You're the one who did this," he told me.

I took a step back and couldn't find my voice.

"The others are on their way. They already know the truth so don't think that you can get out of here with lies," Hiei told me.

I took another step back and felt my foot bump into something. Then something gripped my foot and a liquid soaked into my soaks. I turned and looked down and see the mangled face of Keiko.

"Yusuke will stop you. And we shall all dance on your grave," she told me.

I pulled away and started to run again. I bumped into Botan, her blood soaking into my shirt. "Filth!" she shouted at me. "I can't believe we trusted you!"

I tried to back away, but suddenly a spirit energy bullet ripped its way though my chest, close to my heart. I turned and came face to face with little Rei. "Bad," she said.

I fell to my knees. Blood was pouring out of me, and they all just stood around me. Keiko's maimed face twisted into a grin. Botan's was giving me her cat grin. And Rei with a smirk of satisfaction.

"Don't worry mixed breed," Botan tells me. "You'll be with your own kind soon. After what you've done, you aren't worth saving."

Rei then raised her right hand, and readied her spirit gun. The next second, I felt the bullet rip through my skin and hit my heart.

I woke up, sure that I was dead. Panting, I tried to collect my thoughts. The fear that was coursing though me was painful, and I wished it would disappear. Tears started to run down my face as the dream replayed itself in my mind. I knew I wasn't worth saving so why did my subconscious torture me like that?!

The pain grew worse in my heart as I realized that I was getting too close. I had to leave before anyone got hurt because of me. Oshiro knew where I was, and he was going to keep coming. Soon the loneliness kicked in, and I felt worse than ever. Just when I finally found people who cared, I was being forced to leave. At that moment, all I wanted was to be safe and unafraid. But deep down, just I knew I wasn't worth saving, I knew that I was never going to be safe or without fear.

It just wasn't the life of a mixed breed, and that was my life.

* * *

_Black Page, Black Page  
__Not Wishing She Was Mine_

* * *

Day Seventy-Nine

I watch as her eyes fill with tears. Something inside of me is urging me to comfort her, but I have the feeling I'll only make things worse. She probably had that dream again, and my presence will only make things worse. I wish I knew what the dream was about though. Then maybe I would be able to help.

She has started to cry, and I feel the urging grow stronger. Still, I resist and decide I'd better leave. I had not moved before because I was worried about drawing attention to myself, but now I have to leave. I have to leave before I grow even more attached.

I start walking towards the door, but a voice stops me.

"Don't go. Please."

Before I can stop myself, I turn and see her tear filled eyes staring into mine. My will to resist crumples, and I sit down on the bed beside her.

"You woke me up?" she asks quickly.

I nod, and to my horror, her eyes fill with more tears.

"Thank you," she mutters. "Thank you for not leaving."

Her comment takes me off guard, but what affects me even more is when she starts to explain about her dream. She breaks down in many places, but I wait and listen, trying to ignore my inner demon, which wants her in my arms. (Hraru is a very troubling time of year.) She comes close to the end, and just breaks down into heart-breaking crying. Before I can stop myself, I embrace her. I can feel her tears soak through my shirt.

"It's alright," I tell her. "It wasn't real. Keiko, Botan, and Rei all care about you. They would never attack you no matter what you do. You could steal, cheat, lie, and they would still love you as a sister."

She shakes her head as she continues to cry. "They're going to get hurt. Oshiro will…" Her crying makes her impossible to understand.

I hold her tighter as her emotional pain increases. "No one will be harmed because of you. Now that we know, we'll be ready."

"I should have told you sooner," she says through her tears.

I can think of nothing to say, so instead I start stroking her wings in an effort to calm her. Soon her weeping stops, but she doesn't move from my embrace.

After many moments, she falls asleep once more, but I'm reluctant to release her. What if she has another nightmare or if this Oshiro sends another demon to attack?

I realize how ridiculous I'm acting and replace her under the covers. After a moment or two, I pull myself from the room and make myself some tea. I thank Kami that Botan isn't around to try to confuse me. I know full well that I care for Tsukino. But while the others care because of her personally, I care because of the mission. If she dies, the mission is a failure, and simply put, I do not accept failure.

* * *

**A/N: That's what I get for listening to 'Animal I've Become' by Three Days Grace while writing. Very dark and yet slightly OOC plots. And who wants to kill Kurama for still being in denial? I know I want to, am I'm the one who is writing this!**

**Anyways, thanks for the reviews, and for reading. I hope you enjoyed this chapter (at least the part where Kurama isn't giving us a reason to murder him). Please review!**

**-D101**

**P.S If anyone has any ideas on how to torture Kurama for this later in the plot, I'm all ears.**


	15. Halfway There

_Disclaimer: If I say that I own Yu Yu Hakusho, the spirit detectives will kill me for lying, so… I only own my OCs, plot, and poems._

* * *

_Recap:_ Oshiro finally makes a move and sends a demon to inject negative energy into Tsukino in an attempt to transform her. Luckily, Yusuke and Kurama are able to find the demon and reverse the transformation, thus saving Tsukino's life. And after Tsukino has a horrible nightmare, Kurama learns that a person named Oshiro is after her. After Tsukino falls asleep in his arms, Kurama makes an effort to point out that he only cares about her because of her importance in the mission. Just how long will it take for him to be convinced otherwise?

* * *

**Say It If It's Worth Saving Me  
****Chapter Fifteen  
****Halfway There**

The Second Mistake: Falling For Him

Over the next few weeks, I grew closer to Kurama. It was kind of hard not to since he was always close by. I still went to work at the Urameshis' restaurant, but Kurama always walked me to and from the place. For the first few days, I argued with him and Botan about it since it was messing around with his schedule, but by the end of the week I was used to the routine. Kurama would walk me to the restaurant in the morning. Then he and Botan would come over for dinner. And then Kurama and Botan would walk me back to the apartment.

Kurama also kept close to me while we were in the apartment. Again, for the first few days, it sort of freaked me out, but by the end of the second week, I was used to it. He also was a comfort to have around when I had my nightmares. For whatever reason, they just kept happening, each one worse than the last.

Now all that attention from Kurama would have been really nice if Botan hadn't noticed as well. She seemed to think that Kurama had a crush on me, which was impossible.

Anyways, slowly, I realized that Kurama wasn't as bad as my cat demon blood thought he was. And somewhere in those few weeks, I realized that it wasn't just because of my seasonal curse that I craved his attention. Somewhere within those few weeks, I realized that I had a crush on the fox demon called Kurama.

Again, this would have been perfectly fine if Keiko and Botan hadn't noticed as well. One day, while Kurama, Kuwabara, and Yusuke were talking in the living room of the Urameshis' home, Keiko and Botan cornered me. They demanded to know what was going on between Kurama and me. I managed to hold their suspicions off for a while. But then, in a moment of rash frustration, I shouted that he probably didn't feel the same so it didn't matter.

I regretted that comment since the women knew they were right, but I was concerned about the men overhearing. Luckily, they hadn't heard a thing since Kuwabara and Yusuke started a fight. My worries were misplaced at that moment because, from then on, it seemed like Botan and Keiko were playing matchmaker. It was completely lost on me why they tried. That man didn't like **anyone** more than a friend. Still, I decided to humour them and play along with their jokes.

Everything was going great until my curse decided to act up again and things took a turn for the worse. The morning started off somewhat normally. I about to leave my room when two psychos and a baby rushed in.

"Tsukino-chan!" the two psychos shouted as they entered.

I quickly dived for the covers and hid. "Someone call the police! Two psychos are attacking me!" I shouted in reply.

"Who needs the police when you have us?" Keiko joked as she looked around for the psychos.

Botan also grinned. "And don't forget Kurama." She suddenly felt the need to do an impression. "Don't worry Tsukino-san, I'll protect you," she said in her best impersonation of Kurama's voice. Botan even reached up to her pony tail, grabbed a pretend seed, and started moving her hands around like she was using a whip. While she did this, she looked over her shoulder and gave me a Kurama smile. "And you can repay with me a kiss later."

Keiko and I started laughing like mad while Rei stared at us like we were insane.

"Of course, Kurama-**kun**," I said through the laughs.

"I'll have to remember that one," a voice said.

Botan stopped her in routine while Keiko and I immediately stopped laughing. My back was facing the door, but I knew who it was without even turning around. I felt face flushed as I heard feet walk towards me.

"And Botan, your whipmanship is horrible. You have to let the movements flow."

Botan grinned nervously. "I'll try to remember that."

He must have nodded because I could sense his eyes move from Botan to me. "And you…" I felt his hand grip my shoulder and slowly move to play with my hair.

"Yusuke? What are you doing?" Kurama asked as he walked into the room.

"Nothing!" Yusuke replied as he turned to face Kurama.

I turned around to face the door and saw that Kurama was wearing a knowing smile. He made no further comment to Yusuke but instead turned to me. "Ready to go?" he asked.

I nodded and got off the bed. "I'll be back after grocery shopping," I told Keiko and Botan.

The women nodded. "Have fun," they said as I followed Kurama out the door.

Shopping only took a few minutes and then we started to walk back to the apartment. Unfortunately, we ran into some fans of Shuichi Minamino. Like the ones we had run into while staying at Genkai's, these girls travelled in packs, and didn't seem to see anything but Kurama.

When Kurama first spotted them, he suggested running. Unfortunately, I didn't understand why he wanted to run until the women had spotted us. As they walked over, Kurama quickly explained that those women went to school with him and would not be easy to get rid of. (He didn't say it in those words, but that was the basic meaning.) Before he could say anything else, they attacked.

"Hello Minamino-kun," said a woman with short black hair and blue eyes. "I see you got your hair cut."

Kurama nodded. "Hello Takahashi-san, Mukai-san, Togashi-san."

"How's life?" another woman with brown hair and blue eyes, I think it was Takahashi, asked.

Kurama talked with them a bit in an attempt to satisfy them so we could leave. While he talked, I noticed two familiar people. Whispering so that the other women wouldn't hear, I said, "Dog demons, at two o'clock and closing in."

He didn't give any sign that he had heard for a moment before he muttered, "Keep your head down," while the woman with black hair and brown eyes talked.

"I'm glad to hear that you're all doing so well, but I have to go now," Kurama said once Togashi was done talking.

"Surely it can wait," Mukai said.

Kurama shook his head. "I'm afraid it can't. Perhaps we could get a drink another time."

"Another meeting?" Takahashi asked in a voice that suggested that he used that excuse a lot.

Kurama shook his head. "Actually-"

"We were just going to deliver these to his mother," I said.

The other women finally seemed to notice me.

"Who are you?" Mukai asked.

"I'm Tsukino, nice to meet you," I said to them. I quickly muttered, "Girlfriend?" to Kurama, and he nodded though he didn't seem to like the idea.

"How do you know Minamino-kun?" Togashi asked.

"We bumped into each other while I was visiting an old friend," Kurama explained.

"Do you live here?" Takahashi asked.

I shook my head. "No, I'm staying with Shuichi."

"What's your relationship with him?" Togashi demanded to know.

I sighed. "Just his girlfriend."

All the other women turned to Kurama for an exclamation. He nodded and said it was true.

"What happened to Baton-san?" Mukai asked.

"Her name is Botan," I muttered while Kurama said, "Things didn't work out."

Togashi didn't seem to buy it. "Prove it," she challenged us.

Kurama and I trade a look. I looked over my shoulder and saw that the dog demons had caught my scent. I turned to Kurama to tell him when he suddenly kissed me on the mouth.

Not only were the other women shocked, so was I. Before I could think about what just happened, Kurama grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the group. We ran back to the apartment and arrived without a problem. Kurama said something about taking care of a business call, but I wasn't really planning attention. I just nodded and went to my room to think and get myself under control.

Unfortunately, when Kurama kissed me, my curse decided to act up again. I knew that if I didn't get myself under control I would end up doing something I would regret. First, I tried to reason with myself. I told myself that he only kissed me because that was the only way we could get away. That it didn't mean anything. When that didn't work, I grabbed a book and started reading.

After a while, I managed to get my mind off the kiss and was enjoying my book. Then, out of the blue, I heard the window in Botan's room shatter. Worried that it was Oshiro, I went to investigate but found only a broken window. I went back to reading but stopped when I heard something moving around. Keeping my energy low, I walked out of her room and into the hall. I came to the kitchen and saw that it was only Kurama getting a soda.

Kurama noticed my odd behaviour and asked why I was worried. I told him about the window and showed him.

After looking around the room for a few moments, Kurama turned to me and said it probably was just some kids fooling around. I nodded but still felt that something was wrong.

Suddenly Botan burst into through the door startling us. I knew that Kurama was startled because he pulled me close to him, as if protecting me. When he saw it was Botan, he released me and pretended nothing happened.

We told Botan about the window, and she seemed perfectly fine with it.

"I guess we'll be roommates for a little bit then," she said, before muttering to me, "Any reason why Kurama is so on edge?"

I shrugged and didn't answer.

Kurama then suggested that we get ready to head over to the Urameshis'. We did so and arrived at the restaurant moments later. After dinner, Botan suggested that Keiko, Rei, her and I go on another mission to the movie theatre.

"It's been so long since we've had any fun," Botan argued when I said it wasn't a good idea.

"I agree with Botan," Keiko said as Rei made a noise. "See, Rei agrees too."

I shook my head. "Guys, you know it isn't a good idea for any of us to wander around."

Botan also shook her head. "But we won't be wandering around. We're just going to the theatre and back."

I still shook my head. "I really don't think this is a good idea."

"You'll find out what a topless hot is," Botan said in a singing voice.

My cat ears perked up at the same moment my cat curiosity had. I still had no idea what a 'topless hot' was and the other women refused to tell me. That might have been the only time I could learn what it was so I crumpled.

"Fine," I said.

We started to make a plan. Botan and I were to return to the apartment and pretend to go take a walk around the building at eight o'clock. We would meet Keiko and Rei at the corner of the street and then go to the theatre. After the movie, we would return to our homes. When I got the topless hot signal, I was to go to Botan's room so we could call Keiko and make sure that everything worked out. Also, we were all to change into another pair of clothes so that if the guys tried to follow us they would have a harder time spotting us.

Everything almost went according to plan. Botan and I changed, and Kurama let us go for a walk without any trouble. We met Keiko and Rei and then went to the movie. Getting home was even easier than leaving it since Kurama didn't even question why we were gone so long. (I half wondered if he knew what we were up to.)

As I said before, everything was going fine, but then trouble threw a wrench in our plans. I was waiting in my room like I was supposed to, when I heard a noise coming from my closet. Like an idiot, I went to open it, but before I did Kurama entered the room. He must have just come from the shower because his hair was wet and he wasn't wearing a shirt.

At that moment, the code about the signal clicked with my mind. Topless hot was definitely two words to describe Kurama at that moment. Usually I would have been happy to figure out that puzzle, but unfortunately, my curse started to react to the sight of him. I quickly turned around and looked at the floor trying to block the memory of him from my mind. My exact thoughts at that moment were, "_Botan-chan! How can you do this to me?! Okay, calm down… You didn't see anything… Kurama-san isn't standing behind you, and he isn't topless… This isn't helping!_"

It also didn't help that Kurama felt the need to make sure I was all right. He put his hand on my shoulder and asked, "Tsukino-san? Are you alright?"

Inside, I was cursing my curse, but outside I managed to say, "I'm just fine."

Kurama didn't believe me. "Tsukino-san… I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable with the kiss."

I cursed him for bring that up and closed my eyes to block a mental image. "It got us away from the girls before the dog demons noticed us. I won't complain." I silently hoped he would take the hint and leave.

Unfortunately, he didn't, and when he spoke next he sounded slightly hurt.

"Tsukino-san, please look at me."

Only one thought came to my mind after he said that. "_If I do, who knows what will happen._"

* * *

_White Page, White Page  
__Avoiding a Mistake  
__Black Page, Black Page  
__It May Be Too Late_

* * *

Day Ninety-Nine

I'm not sure why I'm worried by her lack of response, but I have a feeling that my subconscious is behind it. For some reason, it is attracted to women in blue kimonos. The fact that it compliments Tsukino doesn't help. I curse myself for dieing with a mark.

I try one last time to get her to speak or look at me. "Tsukino-san, please look at me."

She does nothing, and I realize that she wants to be alone. I turn to leave when a blob of slime rushes out of the closet at her.

She reacts on instinct and slashes at it with her claws.

The thing jumps back, and I pull out my rose whip. As the thing jumps into another attack, I cut it with my rose whip. It falls to the ground never to get up again.

I notice that it was a slime ogre and turn to ask Tsukino if she is all right. To my complete confusion and surprise, she hugs me. I notice that she is shaking and wonder why she is frightened by something so small. Then I remember the threat of Oshiro and realize she is probably frightened because the ogre is a reminder of his threat.

For a second, I almost suggest her going to Botan's room to talk to her when I remember that Botan saying she was heading out to Keiko's and staying the night. In fact, the only reason I had entered Tsukino's room was to inform her of that.

Since Tsukino is still frightened and I don't like the idea of leaving her unprotected, I lead her to my room. I can feel my inner demon slowly awakening again and promise myself that nothing would happen.

Unfortunately, I didn't expect Tsukino kissing me on the mouth when I turned to ask if she was all right one last time.

In that moment my mind goes blank, and almost against my will, I return the kiss. After a few moments, I'm aware of my back hitting the top of my bed, and Tsukino pulling away.

My animal instincts are in control, and I let out a small whine. I pull her back and kiss her again.

She responses, and I (happily?) realize it was just a game.

Suddenly, a crash is heard outside, and I move Tsukino from on top of me to beside me. This way I'm closest to the door and windows and able to protect her should something attack. I look around for the threat, but find none.

In the moments it takes me to realize that there is no threat, I realize what I almost did.

I look over at Tsukino to apologize to see that she is staring at me fearfully, also knowing what we almost did.

She runs to her room, and I don't try to stop her. Instead, I sit on my bed and think. I realize that while my human mind and heart still only cared for her because of the mission, my inner demon had already decided that she is worth mating.

That single thought fills me with dread, and I decide it would be best if I avoid her as much as possible. That way I won't make the same mistake the others have. The only problem will be how to explain my actions to the others. They will wonder what changed between us since we appeared close before. I cannot tell them about my reasons or this. I suppose my only option is to become cold once more. I only hope that all my time in Human World has not affected my ability to remember how.

* * *

**A/N: Well… he's halfway there and whipmanship is **NOT** a word.**

**Also I was just wondering, Do I have to change the rating now? I mean, it's not like they **DID** anything.**

**Anyways, thanks for all the reviews, and I hope you slightly enjoyed this chapter. If not, feel free to review and shout at me.**

**-D101**

**(Cowers under desk waiting for the screams)**


	16. Realization

_Disclaimer: If I ever get the copyrights to Nickelback's song and Yu Yu Hakusho, I'll let you know. Until then, I only own my OCs, plot, and poems._

* * *

_Recap:_ After another attack on Tsukino, both Tsukino's curse and Kurama's inner demon get a bit out of control. Luckily, before anything happens, they are interrupted by a crash outside, and they come to their senses. While Tsukino disappears into her room, Kurama muses over what he almost did and concludes that the only thing he can do now is become cold-hearted towards her.

* * *

**Say It If It's Worth Saving Me  
****Chapter Sixteen  
****Realization**

The Third Mistake: Getting Closer

I didn't stop once as I ran into my room where the dead slime ogre remained. It wasn't until I entered my room that I finally slowed down and walked over to the window. I opened it and jumped out quickly. I had to get away from the apartment and him. Without thinking, I jumped out the window and flew around the city for a couple hours. When I returned, I saw that the body of the slime ogre had been removed. I didn't question it but instead walked over to my bed and fell asleep, hoping that tomorrow would be better.

It wasn't, nor was any day after that. Kurama had suddenly become cold towards me. He was still polite and everything, but there was that underlying sense that he was faking. To be honest, it was painful, and I wondered if it was happening because of my lack of control over my curse.

Even if it wasn't, I could see his reasoning. He probably realized that I was a danger to be close to and was distancing himself. I couldn't blame him because I **was** dangerous. I was lucky to have been close to him for as long as I had. But even with that thought to comfort me, I wondered if the others would soon feel the same.

After all, there was a big difference between true friends and ones who were just pretending. True friends were with you forever but fake friends were different. You could never tell who was a fake friend because most people didn't even know they were faking. The only way you knew was when things got too tough and they left. As my mother had said, "No one cares for [me], and no one ever will. If they seem to, they are only pretending."

The only question left to answer at that time, was long would it take for things to become too tough for the other people around me?

Finally, the stress was too much for me. On the 7th of July, Keiko and Botan asked what was happening with Kurama and me, and my feelings exploded. I was crying heavily even though I tried to hold back the tears. Botan and Keiko stared as I told them that I had officially fallen for Kurama and that he didn't feel the same. They demanded to know how I had learned this, but I was crying too hard to answer. So they comforted me.

As they did this, I hoped that Oshiro killed me before situations ripped us apart. How I still wished that that had happened instead of what actually did.

* * *

_Black Page, Black Page  
__Opening My Eyes_

* * *

Day Hundred-Seven

Another month has come and gone and nothing truly has changed except for the relationship between Tsukino and me. Somehow I managed to regain my cold-exterior and was able to maintain it. But after a few days of resurrecting my shield of ice, I realized that it was already too late. No matter how much I try to deny it, Tsukino has already managed to capture my human heart just as she has the others.

But still, I keep my shield up even though it pains me to see her reaction to my shield. I keep telling myself that my shield will help us at some point, but I wish I knew when. It is getting harder and harder to keep this act up. Luckily, no one else has noticed the change, so it is easier, but my shield is starting to melt a bit more with each pained look she gives me.

The news from Koenma isn't helping things either. Ever since the start of July (day hundred one) he has been urging us to gain information about Tsukino and send it to him. Koenma is also hinting that Tsukino is helping a group of human haters. Yusuke keeps telling Koenma that he is insane, but I'm afraid that we cannot judge Tsukino from what we know. There is always the possibility that she is just putting on an act, but I hope that is not the case.

Today, Koenma tells us that he wants some information on his desk by midnight or else. So with a great distaste in my mission, I go in search of Botan. I find her with Tsukino and Keiko. Tsukino appears to have been crying, but I ignore that fact as I turn to Botan. I ask to speak with her alone, and she follows me. After a moment, I explain about Koenma's request for information, and Botan seems even more melancholy than before. She agrees to talk to me, but not at that moment. We set a time, then Botan returns to the room with the other women, and I return to talk with the others detectives.

"Where the hell is Hiei?" Yusuke demands to know as I enter the room. "He still isn't answering his communicator!"

"Maybe he lost it," Kazuma suggests.

I shake my head. "No. It's not like Hiei to lose something. He must have run into trouble while in Spirit World."

"Maybe we should pay Koenma a visit and demand some answers for this screwed up mission," Yusuke said as he cracked his knuckles again.

I shake my head. "That would be ill-advised. Hiei has already gone missing. If we disappear as well who is to keep Keiko and Botan safe from demons who bear us a grudge?"

"Genkai," Yusuke replies without hesitation.

Kazuma whacks him over the head before I can say anything. "Use your head. Like Genkai can handle a level B demon anymore," he says to Yusuke.

Yusuke starts to become angry. "At least I came up with an idea!"

Kazuma replies and they start their customary fistfight. I watch for a few moments before I leave the room thinking about what could have happened to Hiei.

Hiei should have been back within a week since he left but it has now been three months. Even if Koenma was having him help with paperwork it shouldn't have taken this long. Did Koenma send him to check on the jail, and if he did, was Hiei attacked?

Nothing is making sense in this mission, not that it ever did. But still, Koenma's sudden want for information and Hiei's disappearance are odd. What has really been happening these past few months?

* * *

_Black Page, Black Page  
__Revealing Thoughts I Had Locked Inside_

* * *

I never thought that I would learn the truth of my mother's words so quickly or so painfully. After the talk with Keiko and Botan, I returned to the apartment to sleep. I awoke a few hours later and heard voices coming from the kitchen. For some reason, I wasn't able to hear them as well as I should have. I ignored that fact and realized that I was thirsty. I wished I had ignored my thirst as well, but I didn't. I got out of my bed and walked towards the kitchen. Just as I entered the hallway, I heard Botan say:

"Tsukino-chan used to work at a bar."

I stopped in mid step and listened, wondering why Botan was talking to someone about me.

"Maybe they were chasing her because they knew who her mate was. Maybe he was a human protector, and they were attacking her to get at him," I heard Keiko say.

"We can't be sure about that," Kurama replied. "But I'm sure that Koenma will look into it for us."

The colour drained out of my face when I realized what they was talking about. When I finally trusted Botan and Keiko, I had told them about how I entered Human World. I was sure they weren't going to tell anyone. Obviously, I was wrong.

I didn't stick around to listen anymore. Instead, I retreated to my room and jumped out the window. The cool night air helped ease the pain of betrayal. I wasn't sure whom they were talking to but it didn't matter. All that mattered was that my mother was correct about no one ever caring about me.

After about an hour of flying, I landed in a park. I decided that I needed to stretch my legs as well as my wings and started walking. That was probably the fourth worst mistake I made.

I had barely gone two blocks when a group of men surrounded me. At once, I recognized them as Oshiro's men. All were armed with hand guns and sunglasses. I was tempted to try out my new move that Yusuke and Kuwabara had taught me but held back. My demon pride was so badly wounded that I didn't care who killed me as long as I died. I had finally accepted my mother's words and was just waiting for my sorry-excuse for existence to end.

Unfortunately, Stato had other ideas.

"Look what the cat dragged in," he mocked.

I hissed at him and waited for the order that would finish me. I knew the only reason Oshiro sent them was to kill me.

Stato walked up to me slowly and put his gun to my throat. "I have a proposition for you. You lead the spirit detectives into our trap-"

"Why don't you just kill them in a fight?" I asked.

Stato frowned and didn't answer my question. "You do this and we won't have to go in and kill them and their families ourselves."

"What did they ever do to you?" I demanded to know.

"You should know that. The detectives are always rushing in and ruining our deals. It makes Oshiro-sama very annoyed, and we don't want that, now do we?"

He paused and let me think over his words. If I said no, they would kill me, which is what I wanted, but then so would everyone else. If I agreed to help then maybe I could find someway to warn the detectives without Oshiro knowing and then no one would die. It seemed like I had only one choice.

"So I hand over the detectives to you, or you will break into their homes and kill everyone in sight?" I asked.

Stato nodded and held out his hand.

Even though I loathed it, I shook his hand.

Stato grinned and then he and the other men started to walk off. Just before they faded from my view, Stato said, "Oh, I forgot to tell you, you tell the detectives, and we kill them all on sight. And don't think we won't know." He pulled out a speaker, and I heard my own breathing coming from it.

Then he disappeared from view, and I felt my knees get weak. I realized that while we were shaking hands he had put a microphone on me. If I removed it to tell the detectives they would know, but if I didn't warn them, what chance would they stand? I felt my knees hit the pavement. I didn't know it at the time, but soon Oshiro was going to be the least of my problems.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the short chapter. There are only a few chapters left and I'm trying to drag this out.**

**Anyways, again I was unsure how to contact you, Silverwing013. If you have an account please tell me so that I can reply to you directly. (Also to answer your question, Yusuke was just being silly and trying to mess with Kurama's head by making him think he was up to something. Obviously, it didn't work.)**

**And to all other reviewers, I never realized until now that I have seventy-four reviews. I've never had a story with so many reviews before. Thank you so much for reviewing so much!**

**I hope all of you are enjoying the story and I'll try to update soon so that you aren't all screaming at your computers saying, "How long until Kurama stops being an idiot, and Tsukino gets away from Oshiro?"**

**Thanks for reading. Please review!**

**-D101**


	17. The Promise

_Disclaimer: Dear Ra, I hope I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or Nickelback. Because then I would have to sue myself for copyright infringement. Nah, I'll settle for just owning the manga, my OCs, this plot, and my little poems._

* * *

_Recap:_ Tsukino confesses to Keiko and Botan that she fell for Kurama and that he doesn't feel the same. Soon afterwards, she overhears Botan and Keiko talking about her. She 'realizes' that her mother was right and goes out for a fly. After flying for an hour, she lands in a park to take a walk. There she runs into Stato who makes a deal with her. She has to lure the detectives into a trap or everyone who is close to the detectives will die. With her unable to warn the detectives, will they ever know of the danger surrounding them?

* * *

**Say It If It's Worth Saving Me  
****Chapter Seventeen  
****The Promise**

Day Hundred-Eight

Koenma was not satisfied with the information we delivered (which is actually understandable because it had no relevance to Spirit World.) Unfortunately, now he is ordering us to gain whatever information we can on her (possible) connection to a group of human haters. Also Koenma wants this information by tonight and wants it by any means needed.

Tsukino seems to avoiding all of us for some reason so this is making things difficult. Botan and Keiko have already tried talking to her, but she refuses to say anything to them. Yusuke, Kazuma, and I have also tried with the same result, and time is running out. We only have an hour before dusk and are sitting at Kazuma's apartment going over possible plans.

"We are not going to torture her!" Keiko shouts at us before we even suggest the idea.

Yusuke snorts at the idea. "Keiko, do you really think any of us would be able to? I don't know about Kurama, but I know I can't."

I ignore Yusuke and say, "That leaves only one other option."

"And what's that?" Yusuke asks.

"Seduction," Botan says slowly.

Everyone looks at her and then at each other.

"I'm married!" Yusuke shouts.

"I'm engaged!" Kazuma adds.

"Botan wasn't suggesting you do it," I tell them, somehow still sounding calm.

"She sure wasn't suggesting you do it," Yusuke says. "Do you have any idea how upset Tsukino-chan has been because you suddenly started acting like Hiei on her?"

"Kurama insulted Tsukino-san?!" Kazuma asks.

Yusuke shakes his head. "He was just really cold towards her, but still!"

Odd how he was the one who had so much faith in Plan A.

I shake my head at Yusuke's comment. "It's for the best, Yusuke," I tell him. "We'll get the information and then we'll be able to return her back to Demon World where she belongs."

"You make it sound like you want to be rid of her," Botan says without thinking.

I nod. "That is the idea."

"How can you be so heartless, Kurama?!" Keiko shouts at me, and Rei starts crying causing Keiko to quiet down.

"It is for the best," I repeat. "We all know that Tsukino-san is not safe here. It would be best for her to return back to Demon World where she doesn't have to worry."

"And who's going to protect her if she runs into trouble while she's there?" Kazuma asks.

"That is none of our concern."

Botan and Keiko both glared at me.

"I thought Yusuke and Kazuma just kidding when they said you were acting like Hiei towards her," Botan tells me angrily.

"But you really are acting like a jerk!" Keiko finishes.

I ignore them and walk to the door. "I'll be back with the information by dusk," I tell them as I disappear out the door.

Immediately, I walk towards the park to clear my head. The talk with the rest of the group has opened my eyes to another opinion on my decision to return to how I once was. I'm starting to wonder if it was the right decision or not.

I sigh and force myself to focus on finding Tsukino. Though I dread the moment when I find her, things will be better once this mission is completed.

***

I find her walking around the park in her human form, and I allow my inner demon to guide my actions. I slowly walk towards her but walk so that I'm circling her, slowly walking closer and closer to her. She notices me at once but seems hypnotized by the circling motion. I can tell that she wants to run because she is twitching, but she remains trapped in the trance.

When I'm close enough to touch her, I stop circling and gently grab her arm. I give her a sweet smile that charmed every girl I had ever met as I embrace her. Slowly I lean toward her and whisper sweet nothings into her right ear. I lean closer and breathe in her scent. I force my inner demon desires to the back of my mind as I continue to work.

Tsukino seems to melt right into my embrace after a moment, and I try to ignore the guilt that stabs at my conscience. Slowly I kiss her on the check and force myself to ignore her subconscious purr. I realize that I had almost succeeded in seducing her and there was only one thing left to do before I could ask my questions. Slowly, I start to lean down to kiss her on the neck but stop.

My conscience stabs me with another knife of guilt, and I remember that she is taken. It isn't right for me to do this no matter the circumstances. Even if she doesn't know who he was, he must care very much about her if he marked her. (No sane demon marks a mixed-breed.) Though she doesn't know it, someone is waiting for her. It isn't right for me to take advantage of her… Right?

Tsukino doesn't notice my indecision, since she also seems to be having problems. She pulls away from me and just stares at me in confusion.

For a moment, we just stare at each other. It is then that I notice an odd looking device on her arm. Off hand, I wonder what it is.

Tsukino doesn't notice and starts to say something but is stopped by the arrival of Botan.

"Kurama!" she shouts. "Demons are attacking a mall. Yusuke and Kazuma are already there but they need help."

I nod and grab Tsukino's arm, in the process removing the device. "Watch her," I tell Botan. Then I turn to Tsukino. "We'll talk later," I tell her before running off to aid the others. As I run I look at the device in my hand. I realize it is a listening device and crush it in my hands. There is no doubt in my mind about who is listening, but I don't have the time to deal with it now. Right now, my team needs my help.

* * *

_White Page, White Page  
__Crime Written Here_

* * *

The Fourth Mistake: Believing Him

Kurama had only been gone for a second, when I found myself wondering why I wasn't running. Botan wasn't strong enough to stop me, and no one would care if I disappeared and never came back. But there was still the threat of Oshiro. If I didn't do what they wanted, they would kill everyone, and it would be my fault. So I waited.

Botan didn't even try to talk to me. She must have gotten the message long ago that I didn't want to talk to her.

Soon Kurama returned, but something was off about him. He seemed angry and grabbed my arm in a way that showed ownership. Before Botan could ask about the fight, he told her to head back to the apartment, and that he and I would meet her back there. Botan seemed like she wanted to question Kurama's order, but she obeyed. Within seconds we were alone.

Kurama turned to me and suddenly he wasn't Kurama anymore. Instead, standing before me was a formless blob. I realized it was a shape shifter demon sent by Oshiro as it said, "The trap is ready. Lead the detectives to the construction site, and we'll finish the job."

Unsure what else to do, I nodded and the demon disappeared. Not wanting to hang around in the park any longer, I started to make my way back to Kurama's apartment. I hoped I would run into him and be able to drop some form of hints before we saw the others. But even then, I had to hope that he'll be able to see my warning. I suppose I was doing a lot of hoping at that moment… if only it had worked.

* * *

_White Page, White Page  
__Trembling With Fear_

* * *

"You have to be kidding!?" Kazuma shouts as Hiei finishes his tale.

"Are you sure that is what happened?" I ask quietly before Hiei and Kazuma can start a fight.

Hiei glares at me. "I'm telling you! I had just jumped out of portal from Spirit World and the demon-"

"Tsukino," Yusuke put in.

Hiei glares at him, annoyed for being interrupted. "Tsukino-san was talking with a shape shifter. It told her something about a trap being ready and that she was to lead us to a construction site where they would 'finish the job'."

"That would explain why Botan and Tsukino-san weren't at the park when I returned," I mutter to myself.

Hiei just shakes his head in annoyance. He's been in a mad mood since he returned from Spirit World. When we asked why he had disappeared for over three months, he just muttered something about paperwork.

"And you are sure it was Tsukino-san?" I ask.

Hiei slowly is getting angrier. "For the last time, Fox, yes! I'm sure it was her."

Kazuma shakes his head. "Why would Tsukino-chan be part of a plan to kill us?"

Before anyone can answer him, Tsukino herself, enters the apartment. She takes one look at us and seems terrified.

Yusuke cuts to the chase as usual. "Tsukino-chan, Hiei says that you were talking to a shape shifter about killing us."

Her fear seems to intensify.

"Tell him you aren't," Kazuma says.

She does not answer but backs away. The next second she has turned and is making a run down the hall. Hiei is the first to move. He catches up with her easily and reaches to grab her arm. Suddenly, Hiei's arm is bleeding like it had been cut, and there is blood on Tsukino's wing, which has turned a silvery colour. She runs to the stairs while Hiei is distracted. We all quickly follow and see Botan running up the stairs as Tsukino runs down. Before any of us can warn Botan, Tsukino jumps the railing.

My first thought when she does is that she is going to use her new ability to destroy the stairs so that we wouldn't be able to follow.

To my surprise, she keeps her wings close to her body and attempts to land without damaging anything. She lands and then makes a run for the street.

Hiei, Yusuke, and Kazuma make a move to follow, but I stop them.

"Whoever she is working with may try to attack Keiko or Botan while we are gone. I'll go after Tsukino-san and you all wait at Yusuke's."

Before they can say anything, I jump the railing and then chase after Tsukino.

She must have landed badly because she is limping more than running. After a few moments, I manage to lose her in a crowd of people. Thinking that she might have ducked into an alley, I look down each as I pass. I find her in one with a portal to Demon World. She seems to hesitate, as if unsure if she truly wants to leave Human World.

Before she can come to a decision, I feed the bushes lining the street my spirit energy and will them to grow. They do so and quickly tie up Tsukino. Her wings are still silver, and she cuts the bushes with a bit of effort. While she is cutting them, I move so that I'm blocking her way through black hole of a portal. My nose catches the scent of blood, and I notice that her back is cut up, most likely do to her landing in the stairwell.

Tsukino manages to cut her way out of the bushes and tries to run to the portal. Unfortunately for her, she isn't looking forward, and runs right into me. I embrace her to stop her from running, my rose whip in hand.

To my surprise, Tsukino doesn't try to resist. Instead, she breaks down into tears and tells me everything that happened with Oshiro. How demons cornered her and forced her through the portal, and how she met Oshiro in the first place. She explains what happened that night I found her and the demonic creature by the lake, and the fire at Genkai's. Finally, she explains why she was obeying Oshiro's orders to lead us into a trap.

At first I thought it was just a trick, but after a few seconds, I realize that she being honest. Somewhat awkwardly, I try to comfort her. I carefully stroke her wings as they slowly return to their original red colour.

After her tears have stopped, she whimpers with shake of her head, "I'm so sorry."

I shake my head. "You have nothing to be sorry for. Nothing has happened to any of us and nothing will. Everything will be alright."

She slowly raises her head and I'm looking into her fearful and sad brown eyes. "You promise?" she quietly asks.

I nod and hold her closer, knowing that it is useless to ignore my human heart and demon instincts any longer. "I promise," I whisper to her quietly.

* * *

**A/n: Apparently Kurama has come around, and it only took seventeen chapters. Anyways, thanks for the reviews for the previous chapter. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and, again, I'll try to update soon. Please review!**

**-D101**


	18. Another Day, Another Battle

_Disclaimer: After eighteen chapters anyone should know what I own and what I don't._

* * *

_Recap:_ I'll just assume that you remember Kurama finally coming to turns with his emotions while embracing Tsukino by the portal.

* * *

**Say It If It's Worth Saving Me  
****Chapter Eighteen  
****Another Day, Another Battle**

Day Hundred-Eight

Tsukino and I return to the Urameshis' residence. Virtually the second we enter the door, Hiei demands to know why Tsukino was still alive. Apparently he still is suffering from anger caused by paperwork (something I am well acquainted with.)

I vouch for her and repeat the tale she told me.

The others all stare at me and then Yusuke speaks as he cracks his knuckles again.

"Let's go kick some ass!"

Tsukino stares at him in shock. "What do you mean?"

"You don't think we're going to let them get away with this do you?" Yusuke asks.

"Those punks need to be taught a lesson," Kazuma adds.

"Do you idiots have any idea where their hideout even is?" Hiei comments.

Yusuke grins. "Ready to lead the way, Tsukino-chan?"

She shakes her head. "I've never been to their hideout. They just told me to lure you to the construction site."

"Then that is where we will go," I announce.

Tsukino stares at me in horror. "But-"

Kazuma grins. "We'll be able to catch them off guard that way."

"What are we waiting for?" Yusuke asks as he jumps up from his seat.

I nod and turn to Tsukino. She still seems worried so I place a comforting hand on her shoulder. After a moment, she sighs and starts to lead the way.

***

We arrived at the construction site and took care of Oshiro's men within seconds. A few were demons who were known human killers. We quickly exterminated them. Oshiro himself wasn't there, but we had thought this would be a warning to him.

Unfortunately, soon after the battle at the construction site, our victorious joy turned into pain and confusion.

Near the end of the battle, Kazuma noticed Tsukino clutching her head. It had been a warning that we hadn't noticed. Almost seconds before we defeated the last of Oshiro's men, we had a new battle on our hands. Tsukino suddenly lunged at me with her wings once more silver and her claws extended. Yusuke and Kazuma watched as I dodged her attacks. Hiei also watched and was the first to follow after Tsukino suddenly turned around and ran.

Before I followed, I turned to Yusuke and Kazuma. I told them to return to their families and that we would contact them. They obeyed, and I ran off after Tsukino and Hiei.

Just as I caught up, Tsukino flew onto a roof. Hiei and I were forced to run up the stairs, but we caught up to her quickly on the roofs. When we found her, she was looking over the edge as if considering returning to the streets. She turned when she heard us walk towards her. I started to walk towards her, telling her to calm down. She was almost within my reach, when Hiei suddenly lunged at her with his sword. I moved to block her from his attack, but she had already started to fall off the roof. Turning quickly, I grabbed her arm and pulled her back onto the rood, holding her close.

"Are you blind?" Hiei demanded to know as I glare at him. "She's just playing with you like a cat with a mouse!"

Before I could reply, I suddenly felt claws rip through the flesh of my left arm and a bit of my shoulder. I pulled away from Tsukino and stared at her in shock. Hiei acted before I could even think and quickly knocked her out by hitting her on the head with the hilt of his sword.

"I warned you," Hiei said in a low voice. "Today, your humanity almost got you killed."

I ignored him as I walked over to Tsukino. My wound was shallow and only slightly painful, so I was able to pick Tsukino up. I pulled out my communicator and called Yusuke. Botan was the one who answered. "Botan, is Yusuke there?"

She nodded. "I go get him."

I stopped her before she could move. "Get Kazuma and him to meet us by the library. We're going to Spirit World."

Botan nodded, and within minutes Yusuke, Kazuma, Hiei, Tsukino, and I were on our way to Spirit World for answers.

We are now walking to Koenma's office, talking as we walk.

"It doesn't make any sense, why would she attack us, run off, and then attack Kurama?" Kazuma asks.

"She was being controlled." I reply without hesitation.

Hiei says nothing, but I can tell he doesn't believe me. Of course, he wasn't the one sharing an apartment with her.

We enter Koenma's office to see him stamping papers. As we enter I hear him quietly mutter, "I never thought it would be so much work."

At once I notice that the scent that fills the room is not Koenma's. Also on the desk lay Koenma's pacifier.

Surprisingly, Yusuke and Kazuma also notice that the Koenma in front of us is a fake.

Yusuke jumps into action. He reaches over the desk and pulls 'Koenma' up by his collar. "Alright fake, you'd better explain why you had us running around like idiots."

'Koenma' stares at us. "Are you feeling alright, Yusuke?" he asks, a tremor of terror in his voice.

"I suggest you answer his question. He isn't very patient. Nor are we," I coldly tell him.

The impostor gulps before his disguise melts away, revealing a small boy with pointed ears, red hair and eyes, and a hat with a grinning face on it.

"Hey! It's that kid that kidnapped Koenma," Kazuma exclaims.

"Koashura," Hiei says.

"Where is Koenma?" I ask.

The boy trembles. "I don't know. A human came to me and gave me the Golden Seal. He told me to get to work and I did. Once or twice I came into the office to see that there were notes on my desk telling me to do things."

"Such as?"

"Contacting you guys and telling you want to do on your mission. I was supposed to confuse you as much as possible."

"Wrong stupid answer," Yusuke says as he readies to punch the boy. "Now tell the truth."

The boy started to try to escape Yusuke's grip. "That's the truth, I swear!"

"Let him go. He's only a kid," Kazuma urges him.

Yusuke obeys after a few seconds and then asks, "Who left you the notes, Koashura?"

He gives us a fearful shrug. "I don't know. They were just on the desk."

I lay Tsukino down on the couch that was against the walls. "Perhaps we should take a look at the notes. They might have some form of clues."

Koashura nods and quickly runs back behind the desk to get them. He hands them over, and we study them.

"You call this writing?" Yusuke asks. "It looks like it was written with a stick of charcoal and crumpled up, and then written on again."

I nod. "It doesn't smell human or demonic."

"So who wrote it? One of the ogres?" Kazuma asks.

Hiei shakes his head. "This was written by something much more powerful. There are remains of energy on the paper."

I frown. "But what-"

Before I can finish my sentence, I feel something cut through my arm again. The others also experience similar wounds. We turn and come face to face with an army of ogres. As we reach for our weapons, Yusuke comments, "At least we're getting lots of exercise."

"If we survive," Hiei adds.

Nothing else is said for a moment. Then we battle for our lives once more.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry the chapters seem to be getting worse and worse. I've got a headache so there are probably a lot of mistakes. I hope you still like the plot even if the story doesn't seem good. It will get better soon. Please review.**

**-D101**


	19. Evil Revealed

_Disclaimer: OCs, plot, poem (what poem?) = yes own. YYH, Nickelback, etc. = no own._

* * *

_Recap_: They were fighting ogres just after they learned that Koenma is missing and that a human had given Koashura the Golden Seal.

* * *

**Say It If It's Worth Saving Me  
****Chapter Nineteen  
****Evil Revealed**

Day Hundred-Eight

"Where the hell are all these ogres coming from?!" Yusuke demands to know as he knocked down another one.

"We're in Spirit World, where do you think?!" Hiei asks as he slashes two ogres near him.

We have been fighting for three hours and are starting to tire. Unfortunately, we cannot stop because the ogres just keep coming. When we knock down one, three more enter the room to take his place. And while the ogres are always fresh and full of energy, our own is starting to run low.

Suddenly something unexpected happens.

"The girl!" Hiei shouts as he points to the door.

I look over just in time to see Tsukino's wings disappear around the corner.

Yusuke spots her as well, and, without thinking, he fires his Shotgun, causing not only the ogres to duck for cover, but Kazuma as well.

"Watch where you're aiming!" he hollers at Yusuke.

Yusuke doesn't answer but runs out the door. I manage to jump over a few ogres and block the doorway so that no ogres follow him.

Kazuma and Hiei join me in seconds.

"Kurama, you go help Yusuke," Kazuma says. "I'll keep these guys busy."

I nod and turn to Hiei. "Find Koenma," I tell him before I run off down the hallway.

As I run, I notice that the hallway seems familiar. As I come to a huge door I realize why. Tsukino has run into the Great Vault. The door is already open when I get there so I enter the vault. Here, I see Yusuke is already shouting at Tsukino. I catch the scent of blood and realize that Tsukino had managed to harm Yusuke.

As I run over to him, claws suddenly slash at me. I manage to dodge and aim a counter-attack with my rose whip.

Tsukino jumps out of the way and runs deeper into the vault. Yusuke and I follow her. As we run, I notice that the vault had undergone many renovations. When I had first broken into the vault, everything appeared as if on display but in separate rooms. Now everything was in one room with many more traps. Twice, I pull Yusuke back before he falls into one.

Finally, we arrive at the room where all the treasures are hidden. Here, we find Tsukino giving us a cold and murderous look, but we also we see the face of our real enemy. King Enma himself is standing just behind her. Taller than a skyscraper, he glares at us from behind his glasses.

"It all makes sense," I mutter in awe and surprise.

"What?" Yusuke demands to know.

"King Enma is behind all of this. He brainwashed a human to give Koashura the seal, and then gave Oshiro the idea to try to kill us when Oshiro was planning on killing Tsukino-san. King Enma must have pointed out how close we were to her and suggested making a trap to kill us. He probably even brainwashed the demons that chased Tsukino-san into Human World in the first place."

King Enma smiles darkly before addressing Tsukino. "Kill them."

Tsukino nods before her wings turn silver again. She lunges at Yusuke and I, and we are forced to take the defensive.

King Enma watches us fight and makes a comment about how brainwashing can improve fighting skills as Tsukino grabbed the Shadow Sword from the wall of the vault.

Sensing that fighting unarmed would not be wise, I pull out my rose whip. I attempt to wrap my whip around her sword so I can pull it away from her, but she anticipates this. As I attempt to pull the sword away from her, she runs forward, and I pull my whip back.

It is harder to control the rose whip with the attacker at such close range. If I slip, I could badly harm her.

While we are fighting, Yusuke is yelling at Tsukino to snap out of it. Finally, I tell him it's useless. The brainwashing is too strong to be thrown off by a simple flex of will.

Yusuke becomes even more enraged and goes to attack King Enma only to be intercepted by Tsukino.

At that moment, Kazuma enters the room and jumps onto the battle. Even against three people, Tsukino didn't tire as she usually would. Unfortunately, we are still tired from our battle with the ogres. It's only a matter of time before one of us makes a mistake.

***

It has happened. Tsukino finally managed to draw blood. Worse yet, she managed to slash Kazuma, the only human in the room, with the Shadow Sword. It will be only minutes before he turns into the lowest level of demons.

"Don't worry about me," Kazuma pants as he clutches his stomach. "Just kick Enma's ass."

Yusuke and I both hesitate. Kazuma doesn't know the true power of the sword and doesn't realize that within moments he'll be a demon.

We aren't the only ones hesitating. Tsukino also pauses when she sees Kazuma in pain. She pauses longer though, and I use my whip to pull the Shadow Sword away from her. King Enma orders her to attack us, and she readies to attack us with claws and her wings.

I quickly hand the sword to Yusuke and tell him to leave Tsukino to me.

Yusuke nods and quickly gives Kazuma the antidote to the sword's power.

I don't believe Yusuke truly understands my plan until I walk towards Tsukino and return the rose whip into a rose bud before placing it back into my sleeve.

At that moment, both he and Kazuma yell at me to not be an idiot.

I ignore them and wait for her attack.

She hesitates, and King Enma orders her to kill me. After a second, she lunges at me and manages to give me a wound to the stomach. I take a step back but do not retaliate.

Yusuke and Kazuma are yelling again. Kazuma is yelling at King Enma to stop being a coward and fight like a man, while Yusuke is shouting at me to stop being stupid.

They don't realize that my plan has started to work. Tsukino stares at my wound with wide fearful eyes. For a moment, she is her own person again. But then King Enma repeats his order, and her eyes glaze over again. She grabs another sword off one of the walls and aims to stab at my heart.

Yusuke and Kazuma both ignore my plea to let me handle her, and rush to my aid. Kazuma summons his Spirit Sword and manages to disarm her. I manage to trip her with a kick. Then Yusuke pins her down using a shield that was on display to cover her wings. Kazuma keeps her immobile while Yusuke and I turn our attention to King Enma.

He is glaring at us angrily and then makes this threat. "Submit to my power or else I'll destroy Human World and Demon World."

Yusuke and I are not impressed.

"And here I thought Koenma was the toddler," Yusuke says.

King Enma glares at him. "What do you mean?"

Unable to help myself, I chuckle. "You don't get your way and right away you throw a tantrum."

"Where's your sense of honour!?" Kuwabara adds.

At that moment, toddler Koenma and Hiei enter the room. Koenma stares at the scene before him with wide eyes.

"Father!? What are you doing?!" he demands to know.

Enma gives his son a cruel smile. "Being a ruler requires one to do many things one would rather not do. That's why these four have gotten away with so much. It's time they paid for their crimes."

"After you," I tell him before speaking to Koenma. "Your father wants revenge. It was because of Sensui and us that his corrupting ways were realized. By taking us out, he will have his revenge. Gods are not so different from normal people personality wise. They are still prone to feel hatred, happiness, fear, sadness, perhaps even love."

King Enma is slowly turning purple. It appears I hit the mark. "That is enough," he roars.

Suddenly I find myself flying across the room and hitting the wall with a crash that surely broke more than one rib. I fall to the ground, completely winded. After a second, I manage to push myself up. Koenma runs over to me to make sure that I'm not dieing while the other detectives make a run at King Enma. Once more they are blocked by Tsukino.

King Enma seems amused. "Can't hurt a friend, detectives?"

While Yusuke and Kazuma curse under their breath, Hiei 'hn's and pulls out his sword.

He easily fakes her out with a slash and then runs behind her. Then he hits her over the head with the hilt of his sword, knocking her out once more. I thank the heavens that Hiei didn't have the time to get attached to Tsukino or else we would be in even more trouble.

Yusuke grins. "One down, one to go," He says as he readies to fight the king of Spirit World.

I fight to watch what is happening, but whatever Koenma gave me to drink is effectively making me lose consciousness.

Just before I lose consciousness, I see Koenma put a hand on Yusuke's shoulder, stopping him.

"This is a family matter. Leave it to me. Go help Kurama," he tells them.

The last thing I'm aware of is hitting the floor once more, and everything going black.

* * *

**A/n: I hope this makes up for the sucky last chapter. (I know you said it was good, but I still don't like it.)**

**Anyways, I loved this chapter for some reason… Maybe it was because of the fight…**

**Thanks for all the reviews telling me the last chapter didn't suck. It helped me write this awesome chapter. Also thanks for reading. Please review!**

**-D101**


	20. Mystery Solved but Case Not Closed

**A/n: Warning, after the second poem, POV's change little warning. Each paragraph is from the other person's POV. Don't worry. It will make sense when you get there.**

_Disclaimer: I can be SUED, therefore I DON'T own. YOU can be sued for stealing my characters, poems, and plot, therefore I own them._

* * *

_Recap:_ It is revealed that King Enma was truly the mind master mind behind the plot to kill the detectives. Now the only question that remains is, how will Koenma beat this own father?

* * *

**Say It If It's Worth Saving Me  
****Chapter Twenty  
****Mystery Solved but Case Not Closed**

Day Hundred-Nine

I awake to find myself in a bed at Genkai's temple. For a moment, I don't move except to check my injuries. All are mostly healed thanks to my demonic abilities. Once satisfied with that knowledge, I stand up and leave the room. I find Yusuke, Hiei, Kazuma, and Koenma (in his teenaged form) in the sitting room.

At once I'm assaulted with questions about my well-being. Once all the questions are answered, Koenma informs me of what happened with his father. Apparently, Koenma used all the energy in his pacifier to seal his father behind a barrier, similar to what he had planned to do to Sensui. Once he is done explaining how he defeated his father, Koenma informs us of what our mission was originally supposed to be.

"I only wanted you guys to find Tsukino-san and the other demons. You were to get rid of the other demons because they were human haters and return Tsukino-san to Demon World. I thought you would have no trouble with it and felt confident leaving the instructions for Botan on my desk."

"So what were you doing all this time then?" Yusuke asks.

Koenma says with no hesitation, "I was on vacation."

Everyone, myself included, leaned over in a sharp movement.

Kazuma is the first to recover. "Vacation!? For over three months!?"

Koenma becomes defensive as he replies, "Even rulers of the Spirit World need a break and remember, I never thought such a small mission would turn into this. If I had, I would have never left." He fingers his pacifier. "The energy in this was to be used to protect against the greatest threat to all three worlds. I never expected it'd be my dad," he mutters to himself.

"We owe you our lives then," I tell him. "And ask that you learn from your fathers mistakes."

Koenma grins. "Thanks and I think I have. The paper work is murder enough without the worlds being in danger."

We all can't help but laugh.

After a moment I ask, "How is Tsukino-san?"

Hiei smirks in my direction. "Worried about your mate, Fox?"

I try to force down a blush. "She's not my mate."

Kazuma and Yusuke grin. "You want her to be," Kazuma says.

Yusuke also goes to say something but before he can, Keiko enters the room with a crying baby Rei and tells Yusuke it's his turn to change her. With a groan Yusuke follows her to their room.

Yukina then enters the room and asks for a help with lunch. Kazuma volunteers right away and Hiei goes with them to make sure that nothing happens. (Not that anything would.)

Koenma and I sit in silence for a moment before Koenma says, "And to think, that will be you one day."

I look at him in confusion. "I'm afraid I do not follow."

Koenma doesn't answer my unasked question. Instead, he says, "Tsukino-san woke up a while ago. She said something about going for a walk before heading to your apartment."

"How long was I out?"

"Not long but she did more damage than we thought possible. It took a while to heal it all. She's really an interesting girl."

I frown. "How so?"

Koenma looks out the window. "Being a mixed breed she's seen a lot of things she could live without, right?"

It seems logical. "I'd imagine so."

"And yet she hesitates when it comes time to kill. With all that darkness around her it's amazing she didn't collect any of it."

I nod as I stand up. "You said she was at the apartment?"

Koenma shrugs and give me a knowing look, which confuses me. "Maybe. She said she was going for a walk."

I nod and set out to find her.

* * *

_White Page, White Page  
__Taking a Short Swim_

* * *

The Aftermath of the Battle with King Enma

I went to the lake surrounded by bamboo by Genkai's to be alone and to think. It was a bit difficult though because of the memories I had of that place. But since it was the only place I knew of where everything was calm, I remained there. I laid down by the waterbed, but quickly jumped up when I hear something walking towards me. Because of that I slipped, and fell into the water. Luckily, strong arms grabbed me and pulled me out of the water. I remained in the embrace though since I knew who it was, and my fear was still attacking me.

"Are you alright?" Kurama asked as he looked down at me.

I nodded but said nothing and avoided his eyes. Guilt was also attacking me now as well.

"Are you afraid of water?" Kurama quietly asked.

Again I nodded. "I ran into my father once, and he tried to drown me. As long as the water isn't above my head, I'm usually fine," I quietly muttered as a wind came through the forest making me shiver.

Kurama nodded and held me closer to keep me warm.

I silently wondered why he suddenly was suddenly acting so caring, like he was before. I also wondered why he had acted so cold before. For a second, I was tempted to ask him, but I was frightened of the answer so I did not ask.

Part of me wondered that his cold attitude was just an act, and that he actually did care. Then my mother's words came back. I realized that he probably was just acting caring and that his cold attitude was how he really felt. He was probably just acting caring because he wanted something.

I ignored that part of my mind and concentrated on how he was making me feel. Safe, and maybe even happy in his arms.

We remained silent for a while before the guilt took control of my tongue. "I'm sorry," I quietly muttered.

I could tell Kurama was giving me a confused look even if I wasn't making eye contact. "What for?" he asked.

I looked at the ground. "It's my fault that you and the others got so badly hurt."

Kurama shook his head. "It's not your fault that you couldn't throw off the brainwashing, not many demons can."

I also shake my head. He didn't understand why I was sorry, and the only way to make him understand was to tell him. Again I was frightened by what his reaction, but I managed to force myself to speak.

* * *

_Black Page, Black Page  
__Obeying a Whim_

* * *

"If I had just ditched the demons and then ran back through the portal none of this would have happened."

She truly believes that this whole thing is her fault and feels guilt for it. Wasn't there at least something she enjoyed about this adventure? Meeting Botan and Keiko and going on 'missions'. Wasn't that worth it? "But you also would have never have met any of us. Doesn't that make up for anything?" I ask.

[*][*][*]

I stared at him in confusion. A bubble of hope started to form in my stomach at the thought of what he could say. Even if he wanted something, it would have been nice to hear those words. "What do you mean?" I asked.

[*][*][*]

I swallow and mentally create a shield. I know what I want ask her. If she felt that meeting me wasn't worth this adventure, but I bite my tongue. Now was no time to act like a love-sick human. Instead I start to list different things she learned. "If you had returned to Demon World you would have never learned how to use your human form, read or write, or annoy Yusuke. You also would have never gone on any 'missions' with Botan and Keiko nor would you have the chance to meet Rei. Doesn't that make this somewhat worth it?"

[*][*][*]

I could sense that he was hiding something and felt disappointment. I looked down so he couldn't see it. His act was obvious. He wanted something and was only pretending to be caring. I should have run right there, but for whatever reason, I remained in his arms and argued with him. "But I almost got you and the others killed."

His next sentence filled me with worry.

[*][*][*]

"It's nothing we're not used to," I tell her. Perhaps those were not the best choice of words since she seems to be worried now. My tongue starts to talk on its own will, leaving my mind to wonder what I was saying.

"And to be honest, I'm glad it was you who King Enma picked. Any other demon would have just gone along with the plan without a second thought. You didn't. You gave us the chance to survive. You also…" Brilliant. I sound like the male lead in those movies Botan and Keiko force us to watch.

[*][*][*]

I stared at him in confusion, hope, and curiosity at his unfinished sentence, making eye contact. "Also what?" I asked.

[*][*][*]

I try to ignore the feelings that are strengthening in me. My inner demon tries to take control again, and I weakly try to force it back.

Tsukino is still waiting for an answer.

"Well…" I manage to start. "You…"

I realize that I'm slowly leaning towards her. She doesn't seem to care. In fact, she seems to be leaning towards me as well. I stop trying to think of something to say and let my instincts guide me. (Completely forgetting what happened the last time that happened.)

Our lips are just millimetres apart and then-

"There you two are!" Botan shouts as she enters the clearing. "We were looking all over for you. There's a victory party going on back at Yusuke's, and you two are missing out."

[*][*][*]

I quickly pulled away from Kurama and walk over to Botan. "Lead the way," I told her. _And get me out of here before I allow myself to have my heart broken_, I mentally added. There was no doubt in my mind about what Kurama wanted. I felt a small part of my heart break as I realized he was just like all the other demons. In Demon World, there was still only one reason why mixed-breeds are wanted. It appeared that things aren't any different in Human World. I just wished I hadn't fallen for him before realizing that.

So with a heavy heart, I followed Botan to the party, walking right beside the man I loved, who only wanted me for pleasure.

* * *

**A/N: You are all probably screaming at me for this, but don't worry. I have my reasons. You just don't know what they are. Anyways, this is the second last chapter and the last one will be coming soon. I hope you somewhat enjoyed this chapter and thanks for reading and reviewing. Please continue to review.**

**-d101**


	21. Just Wait

**A/n: This is the last chapter. Thanks for reading all this time, and for all the awesome reviews. I hope you enjoy this last chapter of Say It If It's Worth Saving Me.**

_Disclaimer: This is the last time I'll type it. I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or Nickelback. I only own my poems, the plot, and my OCs._

* * *

_Recap:_ Tsukino 'knows' that Kurama is putting on an act around her. Kurama, on the other hand, is still struggling to come to terms with his emotions. Time is quickly running out for the possible couple. Will they finally realize how much they care for each other before a new problem attacks?

* * *

**Say It If It's Worth Saving Me  
****Chapter Twenty-One  
****Pain and Hope**

Not Worth Saving

The party was a blast except that Kurama was always close by. As I talked to Chu, I overheard Keiko and Botan talking.

"He's worse than Yusuke," Keiko noted.

Botan grinned. "Well it's about time someone stole his heart, I'm just glad it was Tsukino-chan."

I sighed. He may have fooled the others, but I wasn't blind. My mother was right. Everyone in the room was only pretending to care for me. It wasn't their fault that they weren't able to see that so I played along. I pretended to be enjoying myself, and had a polite conversation with Kurama. He seemed to be trying to tell me something, but I didn't want to hear false declarations of love. But then again, he didn't seem completely sure about what he wanted to say either.

In any case, when Botan suggested going to the movies, I agreed on the spot. We went and saw a movie and then started to walk back home.

That was when the trouble started again. As we passed an alley, a group of men jumped out at us. I recognized them as Oshiro's men, and all were healing from injures caused by the detectives.

Botan and I quickly made a run for it but ended up getting separated. Two men followed me to the roof and tried to kill me. I was forced to use my demon energy to turn my wings silver in an attack Yusuke called, "Wings of Steel." Since they had pinned me, I kicked them and then pushed them away from me with my wings.

To my horror, I pushed one too close to the edge. He fell with a scream that was cut short by the sound of breaking bones. For a second, I thought he was dead, until I heard breathing coming from him. I sighed in relief which quickly turned to horror again as the other thug charged at me with a knife. My instincts caused me to dodge, and him to fall off the roof.

I don't know how long I stood there looking down as humans crowded around and called emergency vehicles. Both men were rushed to the hospital, and I hoped that they would live. At the time I had no idea about the law of Spirit World. I was only thinking of the lives of the men I may have indirectly killed.

Everyone had a right to life. They might have even been able to turn their lives around if they lived. Did they have families? Would their families survive without them? Did they have children?

All kinds of fears and questions ran through my head. They all came to a stop when I felt arms wrap around me, and someone whisper in my ear. At that moment, I realized that I was crying, and the tears flowed even more. I turned and cried into the person's chest. Muttering my questions repeatedly.

The person just held me and slowly walked me back to the apartment. Once or twice he answered my questions. "No they didn't have families," he assured me. "Some people never change. They were two of them."

His words were calming even if they came from the man that only wanted me for pleasure.

We arrived at the apartment, and Kurama handed me over to Botan. She told me about the laws that made it illegal for demons to kill humans in any situation, and I realized how much danger I was in. At the same time, how much danger and suffering everyone around me would be if I resisted my punishment.

I realized what was for the best and readied myself for the possibly of the men dieing. If they did, I was going to go through with the regular punishment. It wasn't as if anyone would miss me. After all, I was not worth saving.

* * *

_White Page, White Page  
__Decision Been Made_

* * *

Day Hundred-Nine

I enter the kitchen and find Koenma sitting at the table.

Koenma sighs and confirms my fears. "They're dead. I'm sorry, Kurama, but you know the rules."

I glare at him. "You bent them for Hiei and me, couldn't you do the same?"

He shakes his head. "I'm afraid not. You have to remember, at that time, neither Hiei nor you had killed a human. Indirectly, she has killed two. It's out of my hands."

"But-"

"I'm sorry Kurama. I agree, isn't not fair that demons should suffer for what humans have done but that is how things are. But I swear I'll find a way to get her out of there. Until I can, I'll try to keep her as isolated as I can. I'll call you and the others tomorrow. I suggest you ready yourself for tomorrow."

I nod and watch as Koenma leaves through a portal. My heart feels heavy as lead as I ready for bed. Tomorrow will take all the energy I have so I'd better get a good sleep.

***

Day Hundred-Ten

"I have called you all here for a very important reason. Please sit down."

Yusuke, Hiei, and Kuwabara all look at Koenma, confused. Both by the fact that he had summoned us instead of contacting us on our mirrors, and by the fact that Tsukino is with us. We all sit down on the couch.

"What's this all about, Koenma?" Kazuma asks.

Koenma sighs and looks at us sadly. "As you know, it is against both Demon World and Spirit World law for a demon to kill a human."

We all nod, and Koenma looks even sadder. "Unfortunately, the men that Tsukino-san pushed away from her died after they fell of the roof."

"So they died. No loss right?" Yusuke asks.

"Yeah, it's not like they can do any harm now," Kazuma adds.

Koenma shakes his head, unable to continue.

"What Koenma is saying is that Tsukino-san is being held responsible because she was the one who pushed them," Hiei informs them.

Both are outraged.

"What?!" Yusuke yells.

"How can you expect us to do that?!" Kazuma demands to know.

Koenma shakes his head again. "Actually, I only expect Yusuke, Kurama, and Hiei to arrest Tsukino-san. Kazuma, you are an honorary member of the team. I have no power over your actions. Yusuke, on the other hand, is a reinstated spirit detective, and therefore, has to obey."

"And what about us, Koenma?" Hiei asks.

Koenma looks at Hiei and me. "You are both still under probation. Both your fates are tied. If one of you disobeys, the other will be punished as well."

"I was under the impression that I was free of all charges for coming to Yusuke's aid," Hiei hisses.

Koenma shakes his head. "You are, but Kurama is still under probation and as I said before, your fates are tied because you were allies in your crime."

For a second, I nurse the idea of Kazuma fighting against us, but then reality sets in. Against three A level demons, he doesn't stand a chance. I can't do anything or Hiei will punished as well. Tsukino can run, but then we will be forced to track her down. We are all out of options. That doesn't stop Yusuke and Kazuma though.

"Look Koenma! You aren't taking her with out a fight!" Yusuke shouts as he readies his Spirit Gun.

"Bring it on!" Kazuma adds as he summons his Spirit Sword.

Both are ready to attack but are stopped by two simple words.

"Arrest me."

Everyone looks Tsukino in confusion.

"What?!" Yusuke yells.

"You **want** to go to prison!?" Kazuma asks.

"A demon like you could never survive," Hiei adds.

She slowly nods, her head bowed. "Maybe not but I have to repent for what I did. And I owe it to you all to go. This way you don't get into trouble and don't have to suffer any guilt. I'm asking for this. So please…" Her voice trails off.

I already know the answer but I ask once more. "Koenma, can't you just sentence her to remain in Hu-?"

Her voice cuts me off. "Kurama-san, please."

I turn to look at her and am startled to see her eyes filled with pain.

"Kurama-san. Just let me go. I've made my decision. Botan-chan already talked to me about this. And I've already decided."

My mouth goes dry. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Koenma nod.

"I will respect your decision," he tells Tsukino. "Do you wish to say goodbye to those in Human World first?"

She nods and Koenma opens a portal. Tsukino steps through and is greeted by a tearful Botan and a baby holding Keiko. They embrace each other.

"Surely there is another way," Botan says quietly.

Tsukino shakes her head. "No." She gives them another hug. "You were all very kind to me. I don't want to see you all suffer because you tried to protect me from something I did."

Keiko and Botan nod and watch as Tsukino makes her way back through the portal. Just as she crosses over little Rei shouts, "Tsukie!" Then the portal closes.

The room is silent for a moment. Then Koenma turns to George. "Put on the handcuffs."

I force myself to stand. "I'll do it."

George looks at Koenma who nods. I take the handcuffs and put them on her wrists. Careful to be sure that they are secure, but also sure that they won't harm her. Once they are on, I step back and watch as George starts to lead her from the room. She doesn't look back as she starts to walk away. We all keep watching as she and George disappear down the hallways. Then the doors close, blocking my view of her.

All is silent, and then Yusuke explodes.

"How could you just let her go like that?!" Yusuke yells at Koenma.

"Do you really think I wanted to?! An innocent soul like that!? Who knows what condition her soul will be in when she finally gets out of there," Koenma replies angrily before he calms down. "It was her choice Yusuke. And nothing could change her mind. I had Botan warn her and explain the situation, so she could make some sort of escape."

He pauses to get complete control over himself. He is affected by this just as much as we are. "We have to respect her choice, Yusuke. Besides, if you think this is hard for you, imagine what it must be like for…" He trails off but I understand his meaning even if Yusuke doesn't.

Yusuke is about to yell at Koenma again when I speak. "That is enough, Yusuke. Koenma is right. We have to respect her decision, even if we don't understand her reasons."

I can hear Yusuke mutter, "Kurama," as I start to walk down the hallway. Back in the office I can sense Kazuma start to follow me, and hear Hiei tell him to leave me alone. I can hear Koenma sigh sadly, but most of all, I can hear her walking down the hallways on the other side of the building. And I know that she can hear me as well. Because of that, I force myself to whisper, "Just wait."

* * *

_Black Page, Black Page  
__No Longer Turning the Page_

* * *

Kurama finished reading his journal a while ago but he remained sitting under the tree. Silently thinking of a way to save her.

He read the last few words aloud as if they would cause an idea to strike him. "Just wait. Just wait because our paths will cross again. Soon." Kurama shook his head at the absurdity of the idea. At the time he was writing, he admittedly felt hurt and a bit lovesick. Now he just felt numb and was able to see the reality of it. She was in the prison, and he would probably never see her again.

Kurama was pulled out of his thoughts as one of his comrades walked towards him on the path.

"Hey Kurama. What are you doing out here?" Kuwabara asked as he walked over to the fox demon.

"Just… thinking," Kurama replied.

Kuwabara nodded. "Want to talk about it?"

Kurama looked down at his shoes. "I'm just wondering… maybe I should have said something… something about how I may have been feeling."

"Still aren't sure if you love her or not?"

Kurama flinched at Kuwabara's bluntness, how much he had changed over the pass months. Before he would have just brushed the idea off as absurd, but now…

"I suppose," Kurama finally replied. Then he sighed. "Kazuma, do you think she felt she wasn't worth saving?"

Kuwabara shrugged. "Hard to say. You can ask her when you see her again though."

Kurama gave him a confused and slightly sad look. "How can you be so sure we'll meet again?"

Kuwabara pointed to Kurama's hand. "Because of that red string around your pinkie finger. It's a sure sign you'll meet up again."

Kurama didn't say anything, and Kuwabara left to help Yukina with something. After a few moments, Kurama decided to trust in Kuwabara's advice. "_After all, this 'string' brought him and Yukina together under the threat of Hiei._"

* * *

**A/N: *Looks at story completely satisfied.* Well… It's over.**

***Ducks random computer that was flying for my head***

**Hang on! Remember! There is a sequel! So don't kill me before I finish it!**

**Also thank you all so much for reading this story and to my reviewers thank you! I'd give you plushies but I can't find them. How about a cookie?**

**Anyways, thank you so much for reading! I hope to see you all at the sequel! Until then, See Ya!**

**-D101**

P.S Sequel is up. It is called "This Is How You Remind Me", I.D. number is 5102684.


	22. Sequel News and Preview

**Note: The sequel is actually called "I'll Show You What I Can Be" and its I.D. is 5102684.**

**Here's a preview:**

I nod and suddenly hear the sound of feet running to the office and catch the scent of fear. "Something's coming," I mutter, trying to communicate the forbidding feeling I'm sensing.

No one seems worried.

"It's probably just George with Tsukino-chan," Yusuke comments.

At that moment, the door is burst open revealing a panting George. "Koenma-sama!" he says as he enters the room. "She's…"

He falls silent as we all look at the person in his arms.

"Tsukino-san," I mutter as I feel fear and anger creep into my mind. Before the numbness took over again, I promised myself that whoever had harmed her was going to pay.

Hope to see you at the sequel!

**-D101**


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